Book. 



THE STORY 



A Scandinavian Summer 



5 



KATHARINE E. TYLER 



Three months sunshine bound in sheaves 



t - ■ u 3 



NEW YORK 

G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS 
27 and 29 West 23d Street 
1881 



Copyright kv 
G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS 
l88l 



Press of 

G. P. Putnam's Sons 
New York 



In the writings of the olden time, from the classic soil of the South, are 
sagas of mighty fairies who, in the skins of swans, flew toward the North, 
to the Hyperborean land, to the east of the north wind ; up there, in the 
deep, still lakes, they bathed themselves and acquired a renewed form. We 
are in the forest, by these deep lakes ; we see swans in flocks fly over us, 
and swim upon the rapid Elv, and on the still waters . 

'■'■Rest thee between our extended wings,'''' sing the wild swans. "Let 
us bear thee up to the great lakes, the perpetually roaring Elvs, that rush on 
with arrowy swiftness ; where the oak forest has long ceased, and the birch - 
tree becomes stunted. Rest thee between our extended wings ; we fly up to 
Sulitelma ; we fly from the vernal valley, up over the snowdrifts, to the 
mountain's top, whence thou canst see the North Sea, on yonder side of 
Norway. ," — Hans Andersen. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAP. 






PAGE 


I. 


Preliminary .... 




1 


II. 


A Day with Thorwaldsen . 




IO 


III. 


Copenhagen to Christiania — On 


the "Kong 






Sverre" .... 




27 


IV. 


A Week in Christiania 




47 


V. 


Posting — Up the Gudbrandsdal 




65 


VI. 


LlSTAD TO LESJE JeRNVAERK . 




82 


VII. 


Down the Romsdal and Back . 




104 


VIII. 


Over the Dovrefjeld . 




120 


IX. 


Throndhjem .... 




137 


X. 


On the ' 1 Hakon Adelstein " — Up 


to the Mid- 






night Sun . 




160 


XI. 


Tromsoe 




177 


XII. 


On the Steamer Lofoten 




194 


XIII. 


Bergen and Bishop Pontoppidan 




222 


XIV. 


Old Norse Kings in Bergen 




246 


XV. 


From the Hardanger to the Sogne Fjord 


271 


XVI. 


Over the Fille Fjeld . 




291 


XVII. 


Through the Ringeriget . 




313 


XVIII. 


Journal of a Visit to the Folge 


Fond 


326 


XIX. 


A Glimpse of Sweden 




343 


XX. 


Upsala, and the Museum 




368 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



i. 

PRELIMINARY. 

NORWAY was not in our programme, but we met 
people who had been there: a lovely old lady, 
with her son and his wife and their baby boy; who had 
travelled through the country and along the coast, from 
Christiania to the North Cape, and returned full of en- 
thusiasm over the wild and beautiful scenery, the quaint, 
primitive ways of living, the bracing air, and general 
delights of travel by land and sea. They had accom- 
plished the journey in great comfort, not to say luxury, 
in a carriage holding four persons and drawn by two 
horses, where Baby Robin had his nap every day, lying 
on the front seat, while papa mounted the box; had 
found the hotels not only comfortable, but moderate 
in price, and had even been able to travel without a 
courier. 

The sight of a toy cariole and a photograph album 
of peasant costumes, on a table in the salon of an old 
Florentine palazzo, had led to these charming remi- 
niscences; and Norway, which had hitherto seemed 
such a far off, almost inaccessible region, greatly to be 
desired but scarcely to be attained, came straightway 
into the realms of possibility. The discouraging advice 



2 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



of old travellers in Norway to would-be lady tourists, 
the discouraging adventures of sundry " Unprotected 
Females," whose journal we had read, were as nothing 
in the actual presence of these enthusiastic people. 

But our plans were made for the summer. Could 
we give up Switzerland ? " Oh, you need not give up 
Switzerland. It is lovely in September; and you have 
June and July and August for the north. Go to Nor- 
way; you will never be sorry." This was in January. 
As we talked over the project, from time to time, it 
grew more and more attractive; and when April found 
us again in Florence, after Carnival in Rome, and Lent 
in Naples and Sorrento, we sought our friends for more 
information about routes and methods of travel in Nor- 
way. Mr. Kirke gave an evening's entertainment, in 
an account of the journey, with general information 
about the country and people, to a party of fourteen, 
all interested in the subject; though, as it happened, 
only six of us reached Norway that summer. 

It must be acknowledged that the "man and broth- 
er " of our little, private party of three had not, at first, 
taken very kindly to the plan. There were not many 
books about Norwegian travel to be obtained at Vieus- 
seux's library; and although our friends loaned us guide 
books, he found Murray bewildering, and Bennett in- 
comprehensible. If we must go to Norway, he was 
inclined to adopt the advice of a very cross-grained 
Englishman at our pension, and make the entire trip 
by steamer, from Hamburg to the North Cape. 

Oh, the horrible idea ! Four weeks on a little coast- 
ing steamer loaded with codfish — or rather cod fisher- 
men; for they were supposed to have left their cargo 
at Hamburg, and to be returning with winter sup- 



PRELIMINAR Y. 



3 



plies. That was not to be thought of, at any rate; we 
should have quite enough of the sea in the trip from 
Throndhjem to Vadso and back. To be sure, we had 
been informed by our friends that these steamers had 
comfortable state-rooms and an excellent and abun- 
dant table. (We decided afterwards that they must 
have been exceptionally favored.) They had made 
the passage from Stettin to Christiania, of two nights 
and days, including one spent in Copenhagen; or rather 
they had intended it, but after a rough night they had 
crossed to Malmo, on the Swedish coast, and finished 
the journey by rail. 

Why could we not take the same route, with the 
blessed possibility of changing to terra firma in case 
of rough weather ? 

"You ought not to leave Berlin later than the tenth 
of June if you mean to see the midnight sun on mid- 
summer eve," was Mr. Kirke's parting injunction. 

We were not quite decided in favor of Norway, but 
we made our plans to reach Berlin as early in June as 
possible. Leaving Florence early in May, we spent a 
week among the lakes, and four days in Venice — where 
the intense heat made us look forward with longing to 
the cool northern seas and mountains — crossed the 
Semmering to Vienna, and went by way of quaint old 
Prague and the Saxon Switzerland to Dresden. Here, 
thanks to friends whom we had met in Paris (for good 
Americans abroad are always willing to exchange ad- 
dresses and recommend homelike pensions), we found 
refuge directly in a cosey little nest, inhabited by two 
birdlike sisters, the Frauleins von G., and the few 
guests they had room for. We were received as old 
friends, for the sake of "the dear Holts," who had sent 



4 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



us there; and though the kind Frauleins regretted that 
our stay in Dresden must be so short, they were full 
of interest in our plans. 

" You will have company," they said. ''There is a 
lady coming here, in two days, who is going to Nor- 
way. She is a friend of the Holts, too; perhaps you 
know her — Miss M. of New England ? To be sure, she 
will want to go with you." 

To be sure she did, having heard of us from Mr. 
Kirke in Florence, and unconsciously followed us 
thence, to find us in Dresden. She took the place 
of a faint-hearted sister, who had journeyed with us 
for several months, but began to be discouraged be- 
cause of the way in prospect, — the steamer travel, the 
long days of driving in carioles or what not, and the 
problematical bed and board at country stations, — and 
who finally elected to abide with the kind Frauleins 
until September. 

Our week in Dresden was divided between the 
Zwinger and the shops, the Sistine Madonna and 
preparations for our summer campaign. The first de- 
sideratum was a guide-book. Oh, why is there not a 
Baedeker for the north of Europe ? Our new friend 
possessed a Murray; so we tried to find something dif- 
ferent, and succeeded in getting a'German Reisehand- 
buch, written by a Norwegian (Yngwar Nielsen), and 
published in Hamburg. In a fourth part of Murray's 
bulk, this little volume contains much valuable infor- 
mation for the benefit of the travelling German pub- 
lic, designed to tempt them from their usual summer 
haunts in Switzerland to the not inferior " landschaft- 
liche Schonheiten " of Norway, as yet so little appre- 
ciated by them. " The peculiar modes of travel in 



PRELIMINARY, 



5 



the north/' says Nielsen, "operate as a hindrance to 
the German tourist, who is inclined to over-estimate 
these little difficulties. A regular network of railways, 
it must be confessed, is not yet to be found in Norway, 
as in other countries, but the steamers supply the de- 
ficiency, and by their aid the traveller may reach the 
most beautiful scenery with the slightest difficulty." 
Query: has the Hamburg line of steamers along the 
coast of Norway an interest in this publication ? 

In addition to her Murray, Miss M. was fortified 
with the experience of two maiden sisters, who had 
spent the previous summer in Norway. They had 
done all sorts of delightful things; but they began 
by spending a month in Christiania, in a Norwegian 
family, to acquire a working knowledge of the lan- 
guage. This commendable example we had, alas ! no 
time to imitate; we must trust to the promised assist- 
ance of Mr. Bennett and his Phrase-book. 

Next to the guide-books, we were informed that 
waterproof cloaks and blankets were to be desired, 
in fact not to be dispensed with. The gummi-fabrik 
of Dresden furnished but a single ready-made gar- 
ment; of that our brother availed himself. We pur- 
chased a square of rubber cloth, to protect our wraps, 
and decided to risk the storms in our heavy tweed 
cloaks, unless we should find something better in 
Christiania. 

The lady from New England had sensible ideas on 
the subject of luggage, her worldly effects for the jour- 
ney being condensed into a single bag and a rubber- 
cloth bundle, the latter capable of indefinite expansion, 
but both quite easily to be "wielded," as Baedeker 
hath it, by her own hands. We followed her exam- 



6 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



pie, limiting ourselves to a bag and bundle each, with 
a lunch basket for the party, and the usual package of 
umbrellas for rain and sunshine. 

Thus equipped we left Dresden, and, after a few 
days at Berlin, found ourselves on Saturday evening, 
June 12, 1875, at Stettin, with passage engaged on the 
" Kong Sverre," to sail at noon of the following day. 
There were state-rooms on this boat, six in number, 
intended to accommodate four persons each; there was 
no objection made to our looking at them; but when 
we proceeded to select one, for the three ladies of our 
party, we were informed that all were engaged, had 
been engaged for more than a week. (The steamboat 
agent, to whom we wrote from Dresden, had assured 
us that it would be needless — perhaps he meant use- 
less — to engage rooms in advance.) We took refuge 
in the ladies' cabin, where we bespoke sofas, with 
a reasonable hope of having nobody put over our 
heads. 

Stettin is a place of importance, with over seventy- 
six thousand inhabitants, a fortress of the first class, 
with a garrison of six thousand soldiers; its exports 
are grain, lumber and spirits, valued at six million 
pounds sterling annually. Its imports, averaging seven 
millions, are petroleum, train oil, French wines and 
herrings. Two empresses of Russia were born in Stet- 
tin: Catherine II. and Maria Feodorowna, wife of the 
Emperor Paul; their fathers, princes of Anhalt and 
Wurtemberg, having been Prussian governors of the 
town. 

So much we find in our Baedeker; but we find, also, 
that "Stettin contains little to interest the traveller;" 
so we drive straight to the u Drei Kronen," where we 



PRELIMINARY. 



7 



obtain clean and comfortable rooms, and dine, and 
sleep, and breakfast. 

Next day at noon we take possession of our sofas, 
with our luggage, and establish ourselves on the hurri- 
cane deck, while the little steamer is. filling up with 
passengers and freight. 

Stettin is built on both sides of the Oder, and the 
river almost immediately mingles its waters with the 
Dammsche See, and then widens into the Papenwas- 
ser. We pass between low, green shores, with vil- 
lages and trees, till we emerge, after a couple of hours, 
into the Stettiner Haff, a fresh-water basin, seventy- 
five miles in circumference, whose waters enter the 
Baltic by three channels — the Peene, the Swine and 
the Dievenow — forming two large islands, Usedom 
and Wollin. 

We sit on deck watching the scenery, which is mo- 
notonous, and the passengers, who seem all to be " for- 
eigners," in the English sense — Germans, Swedes, or 
Norwegians. (A lady said to me, in our pension at 
Mentone, " I am the only English person here; all the 
rest are foreigners." I am aware that something like 
this has been told before; but this really happened to 
me, and the lady had not the faintest suspicion of a 
joke.) 

It seems a little strange that we should be the only 
Americans; but the favorite routes to Norway are from 
Hull to Christiania, Bergen or Throndhjem direct, or 
via Hamburg, Kiel and Korsor to Copenhagen, and 
thence by these steamers, or via Malmo by rail, to 
Christiania. 

Among the passengers we notice a gentleman who 
has in charge a lady and little girl, to whom his kind- 



3 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



ness and consideration merit our warmest approval. 
The lady, who seems low in her mind, he seeks to en- 
courage by the harmless stimulant of beer; he mildly 
solicits the little girl: " Lennchen, willst du auch bier 
trinken ? " 

I do not know why we settle it in our minds that 
the lady is his sister-in-law. He is a tall, handsome 
fellow, with a mild, intelligent face and quiet manners, 
and we mentally register him as "the polite German," 
rara avis in terra. At dinner he sits next us; the lady 
and child have disappeared behind the curtains of the 
ladies' cabin; and, to our surprise, he begins upon us 
in English. Only to recommend the stewed veal, at 
first, and — " A little of the cauliflower ? " which we are 
surprised into accepting, greasy as it is, like all Ger- 
man cookery. Then he ventures into conversation, 
gently inquiring, "Do you go far north, my lady?" (lit- 
eral translation of the usual phrase "meine dame"). 
He is going only to Gottenburg, or somewhere in 
that vicinity, to visit friends with his sister. (There ! 
didn't we say so ?) By and by it appears that he has 
resided for a number of years in America, engaged 
in some sort of business, and we begin to understand 
his superiority. 

In the course of the evening we make acquaintance 
with a family of Germans from Stettin, a father and 
three children. The father is in some government 
office; the son, a young doctor of jurisprudence, just 
graduated, and full of airs and graces, speaking Eng- 
lish fluently, also French and Italian, having travelled 
on the continent. Now he touches the piano lightly, 
arid warbles German student songs, or the familiar 
strains of " Santa Lucia" (taking us back to our hotel 



PRELIMINARY. 



9 



at Naples, and the bambino who sang it under our win- 
dows every evening); now he is picking up Norwegian 
phrases from his guide-book, and instructing his sis- 
ters. They can speak English also, but timidly; for 
they have read more than they have talked, and 
their pronunciation is delightfully quaint. The eldest, 
Kathe, is evidently the little house mother; she has a 
quiet way of looking after the others, and chaperoning 
little Bliimchen, which tells the story. They are 
started on their summer vacation; as we hear the fa- 
ther telling a Swedish gentleman, his children wanted 
to stick their noses into Norway: " Ein bischen die 
Nase ins Norwegen zu stecken." 

We sit on deck together, chatting, while we pass 
Swinemunde in the darkness, and see the lights of the 
great watering-place gleaming across the level sand. 
Outside the bar, the waves run high, and the boat 
pitches grandly. We stay up as long as we can be 
allowed, until after eleven o'clock, when we are com- 
pelled to retire to our sofas. The ladies' cabin, small 
as it is, has one redeeming virtue — it is on a level with 
the main deck, and closed only by a curtain. When 
all the others are asleep, one of our party softly pulls 
this aside, six inches or so, securing ventilation for the 
night, and the waves of the Baltic rock us to repose, 
i* 



II. 



A DAY WITH THORWALDSEN. 

WE woke early, a little stiff from the hard beds 
and damp night air; found that it was six 
o'clock, and the boat was motionless; and soon as- 
certained that we had arrived at Copenhagen. As 
soon as we could rouse the rest of the party, we landed 
and drove to the Hotel Royal, where a bath and a 
good breakfast put us in humor for sight-seeing. The 
day was gloomy and showery, and, seen by glimpses 
from cab windows and under umbrellas, Copenhagen 
did not make a very favorable impression. 

Kjobenhavn, "the Merchants' Haven," so called 
from its excellent harbor, dates from the thirteenth 
century, and was founded by Axel, bishop of Roes- 
kilde, on the site of a fishing village; and called from 
him Axel-huus. It increased rapidly, in consequence 
of its facilities for trade, and in 1448 Christian I. 
transferred the seat of government hither from the 
former capital, Roeskilde. The great palace of Chris- 
tiansborg is built on the island which was fortified by 
Bishop Axel in 1168. We look at the gray and rather 
gloomy pile of buildings, as we leave our hotel, and 
purpose returning to it later, if there is time; but there 
is something better than palaces to be seen in Copen- 
hagen. A child of genius here saw his first and last 



A DAY WITH THORWALDSEN. 



of earth; and the grateful city has erected to his 
memory a most fitting monument, the Thorwaldsen 
Museum. 

We drove first to the church, which is open from 
9 to ii A. m. It is the metropolitan church of Den- 
mark, replacing the one destroyed by the bombard- 
ment of 1807, and is called the "Frue Kirke," "Church 
of Our Lady." Here are some of the sculptor's most 
famous works, illustrating the great facts of Christi- 
anity. Over the porch, in the tympanum, is a group 
in terra-cotta — John the Baptist preaching in the wil- 
derness; over the entrance door a frieze — Christ's entry 
into Jerusalem. Around the apse runs a grand frieze 
representing the Passion; in the side chapels are bass- 
reliefs of the Baptism of Christ and the Last Supper. 
The colossal figure of Christ stands before the altar, 
the arms outstretched in blessing, the head slightly 
inclined; on the pedestal are the words, in Danish, 
"Come unto Me!" But to us it seemed the risen 
Christ, in the presence of the twelve, when, having 
led them out as far as to Bethany, He lifted up His 
hands to bless them, and "while He blessed them He 
was parted from them and carried up into heaven." 
And yet, none the less does He still stand blessing 
and drawing all men unto Him. 

The apostles are ranged, six on each side of the 
church, St. Paul, instead of Matthias, taking the place 
of Judas. This statue, said to have been modelled en- 
tirely by the master, is considered the finest of the 
twelve. All are colossal in size, nearly or quite eight 
feet high, and are designed with great simplicity and 
dignity. The large models were, most of them, exe- 
cuted by Thorwaldsen's pupils, after studies of his own. 



12 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



Tenerani alone was permitted to assist in the clay 
model of the Christ, during the sculptor's temporary 
illness. For us, these statues had peculiar interest, for 
our first introduction to Thorwaldsen was the exhibi- 
tion of the casts at the World's Fair, in the New York 
Crystal Palace, in 1854. 

He received the order for these works, and the 
group in the pediment, in 1820; the plaster casts were 
sent from Leghorn in 1828, to be ready for the conse- 
cration of the new church, and were replaced by the 
marbles ten years later, after Thorwaldsen's return 
to Copenhagen. The friezes, over the entrance and 
around the apse, were added later. 

Other works in the Frue Kirke are the "Angel of 
Baptism," a beautiful, kneeling figure, holding a font, 
which is placed in the centre of the aisle, not far from 
the "Christ," and two little groups in bass-relief, over 
the alms basins, on each side the entrance, one repre- 
senting Charity, the other, the Guardian Angel. The 
child, in the latter, is said to be a likeness of the little 
Bertel Thorwaldsen. It recalls the pretty, fair-haired, 
blue-eyed boy, described in Plon's biography; and as 
we pass the great, equestrian statue of Christian V., 
in the Kongens' Nytorv (Kings' new market place), we 
imagine the small, timid figure, in a red cotton cap, 
hoisted to this unwelcome eminence by his roguish 
comrades, who then ran off, leaving him to be rescued 
by the police. Hans Andersen tells this incident, re- 
lated to him by the sculptor. Before we enter the 
museum, let us take a rapid retrospect of the artist's 
life. 

Bertel's father, Gottshalk Thorwaldsen, was a poor 
wood carver, who worked in the shipyards, carving 



A DAY WITH THOR WALDSEN. 



*3 



figureheads for merchant vessels. The little boy early 
began to help his father, and showed so much taste for 
sculpture that, at the age of eleven years, he was sent 
to the free school of the Royal Academy. In ordinary 
branches of learning he was less precocious, and was 
esteemed little better than a dunce by his teacher, who, 
when the pupils were to prepare for their first commun- 
ion, put him in the lowest class in the catechism. 
Thorwaldsen was seventeen, and had just gained his 
first prize at the Academy — a small silver medal. 
Chaplain Hover, noticing the name in the Copenhagen 
journals, asked his pupil: 

"Thorwaldsen, is it a brother of yours who has 
just taken a prize at the Academy ?" 

"It is myself, Herr Chaplain," replied Bertel. The 
teacher was astonished. " Herr Thorwaldsen," said 
he, "please to pass up to the first class." This title, 
by which his teacher always addressed the boy after- 
wards, made an indelible impression upon his mind; 
and he used to say that this first taste of glory was 
sweeter, in retrospect, than all the honors of later 
years. He went on studying, and obtaining occa- 
sional prizes, until in 1793 he received the grand prize, 
which entitled him to three years of travel at the 
expense of the Academy. The bass-relief of "St. 
Peter Healing the Paralytic," which gained this prize, 
is now in the museum. This pension was then en- 
joyed by another student, and while waiting for its 
vacancy Thorwaldsen studied three years in Copen- 
hagen, receiving assistance from the Academy, and 
partially supporting himself by designing vignettes for 
publishers, and giving lessons in drawing and model- 
ling. He started for Rome in May, 1796, going in a 



u 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



Danish frigate to Malta. He was more than six months 
on the way. This time was spent in utter idleness. The 
captain says, writing to his wife, "He is very well; you 
can let his parents know. He is so thoroughly lazy 
that he has no wish to write himself, and while on 
board he would not learn a word of the Italian lan- 
guage, though the chaplain and I both offered to teach 
him. I have resolved to send him to our ambassador 
at Naples, so that he may forward him to Rome. The 
young man has an annual pension of four hundred 
crowns, and may God help him ! He has a big dog, 
whom he has christened Hector. He sleeps late in 
the morning, and thinks only about his comforts and 
his eating. But everybody likes him because he is 
such a good fellow." In another letter he calls him 
"an honest boy, but a lazy rascal." Thorwaldsen 
crossed to Palermo, and, after a few days, to Naples, 
a Neapolitan frigate sailing as convoy to the packet, 
" on account of the Turks." He spent a month in 
Naples, seeing "the studios" (gli studj), as the Museo 
Reale was then called, just beginning to be fitted up 
as a collection of art galleries, where the Farnese Bull 
and the "great Hercules" were his special admiration; 
enjoying the fine collection of paintings, antiques, 
Etruscan vases and medals, then in the palace of 
Capo di Monte, and visiting the excavations at 
Portici, where, as yet, comparatively little had been 
discovered of the ruins of Herculaneum. Pompeii, 
where the discoveries were still slighter, he seems 
not to have visited. 

" I was born on the 8th of March, 1797," Thorwald- 
sen used to say; " before then I did not exist." It was 
the day of his arrival in Rome. He was in his twenty- 



A DAY WITH THORWALDSEN. 



15 



seventh year (having been born in November, 1770) 
and more than nine months had elapsed since he left 
Copenhagen. But a new-born babe is far from being 
a master; in art, as in nature, the child's growth is 
gradual. For years the development of the young 
artist was constant, but so slow as to be almost imper- 
ceptible to others. He learned first of all to distrust 
himself, and a change in his method of working resulted 
from a thorough study of the antiques. Of these he 
made many copies, but few original compositions of 
this period remain. The only one in the museum is 
the " Bacchus and Ariadne," which he sent to Copen- 
hagen in 1798. He was interrupted while working upon 
it in August by an attack of malarial fever, and the 
plaster cast was hastily taken, as the clay model was 
in danger of destruction by the heat. Those were 
troublous times, from 1797 to 1801, when Napoleon's 
army was in Italy; the pension of four hundred crowns 
(about $250) scarcely procured the student the neces- 
saries of life, and he contended with both poverty and 
ill-health. 

The first work of Thorwaldsen's which attracted 
public attention, and to which he owed the means of 
remaining in Rome after the six years during which he 
received the Academy's pension had expired, was his 
statue of Jason. His first model of this subject, of life 
size, remained for a long time in his atelier, but failed 
to excite admiration, and he finally destroyed it. But 
he resolved to try again; and the second model, of 
colossal size, having been put into plaster, through the 
kindness of a Danish lady, received the approval even 
of Canova. No one, however, thought of ordering a 
copy in marble; and the discouraged artist had decided 



z6 



A SCANDINAVIAN' SUMMER. 



to return to Copenhagen. Trunks were packed, furni- 
ture sold; but some trouble about passports compelled 
delay until the following day. Meanwhile, the Eng- 
lish banker, Thomas Hope, visited the studio, was 
struck with the " Jason," and ordered a copy for six 
hundred sequins, paying a third in advance. 

The sculptor seems very ungrateful to his patron, 
when we find that, sixteen years later, the "Jason" 
had not been touched, and that, though then taken in 
hand, at the urgent remonstrance of Mr. Hope, ten 
years more elapsed before it was finally sent to London. 

Genius has its caprices, and also its steady growth, 
and after neglecting "Jason" a sufficient length of 
time, the conception no longer satisfied the artist. He 
offered to make another statue, which should be bet- 
ter; but Mr. Hope preferred the first. Meanwhile, 
Thorwaldsen received and executed numerous orders; 
and went on designing beautiful things. "Cupid and 
Psyche" was modelled in the summer of 1804. Three 
statues in marble, for the Countess Woronzoff — a 
" Bacchus," "Apollo" and "Ganymede" — and his first 
bass-relief of importance: "The Abduction of Briseis," 
date from 1805. He became the fashion, and orders 
poured in, many of which were never executed. Among 
the latter, alas! was one for a colossal statue of Lib- 
erty, to be erected in a public square at Washington, 
for which he was offered the sum of five thousand Ro- 
man crowns. 

Taking into consideration all its consequences, one 
is tempted to question whether the generous commis- 
sion of the English banker were really the salvation 
of the artist. Its first result was to relieve his press- 
ing wants, and he gave himself up to idleness, the next 



A DAY WITH THORWALDSEN. 17 

step to which was naturally mischief. He accepted an 
invitation from his constant friend, the Danish savant 
Zoega, to his villa at Genzano, and there met the wo- 
man who did her best to spoil his whole life — Anna 
Maria Magnani. Very handsome and fascinating, but 
selfish, mercenary and unprincipled, she would not 
marry the poor sculptor, but accepted a man of higher' 
birth and fortune, from whom she was separated after 
a few months. Then she came to Thorwaldsen, from 
whom she had obtained a written agreement to sup- 
port her, in case of a rupture with her husband, and 
he took her into his house, where she remained for 
many years. He was too generous to rid himself of a 
burden which, as time went on, must have become in- 
expressibly wearisome.* 

One almost wishes that the passports had been 
ready, or that Mr. Hope had never taken it into his 
head to visit the studio. Would it not have been bet- 
ter for the artist to have returned to his Northern 
home, where he might, perhaps, have become the 
founder of a new school of art, finding subjects in the 
national life and history, and the old Norse Sagas, to 
develop the originality of his genius ? But when we 
look at the series of magnificent works produced dur- 
ing these years, we hesitate. Perhaps he had not in 
him the material for such originality, and would have 
been nothing if not classical. Let us give a rapid 

* Speaking of the lovely bass-relief: "Wer kauft Liebes gutter? " mod- 
elled in 1824, Baroness Bunsen observes: "In the figure supporting the 
head with its hands, and elbows resting on the knees, seemingly bowed 
down under the weight of the triumphant Cupid, firmly seated on the nape 
of his neck, the friends of the sculptor recognized but too clearly the em- 
blem of a portion of his own life's history." 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



glance at his subjects for the next ten years. The 
bass-relief, "A Genio Lumen," was executed in 1808, 
as his diploma, when he was made an honorary mem- 
ber of the Accademia San Luca. In the same year 
was modelled the beautiful statue of " Adonis," which 
now occupies the place of honor in the hall of modern 
artists, in the Glyptothek, at Munich. King Ludwig I. 
was then in Rome, collecting antique marbles for his 
new galiery, and Thorwaldsen, whose judgment was 
never deceived by impostures, rendered him valua- 
ble assistance. He was afterwards entrusted with the 
restoration of the ^Egina marbles, now in Munich. A 
large number of statues and bass-reliefs of classical sub- 
jects belong to this period, the finest being his great 
frieze, the " Triumph of Alexander." The French 
academy at Rome had received an order to ornament 
the Quirinal Palace, in preparation for a visit from the 
emperor. Thorwaldsen was requested to compose the 
frieze for the audience chamber, and the subject was 
left to his choice. 

This plaster frieze still adorns the Quirinal. From 
a second cast, intended for the palace of the king of 
Denmark, the first marble copy was executed, which 
had been ordered by Napoleon, probably for the Tem- 
ple of Glory, now the Church of the Madeleine. Half 
of the price (320,000 francs) had been paid, when Na- 
poleon was sent to Elba. Thorwaldsen afterwards fin- 
ished it for the Marchese di Sommariva, who placed 
it in his lovely villa at Cadennabia, on Lake Como. 
In 181 5 he composed several fine bass-reliefs: " The 
Workshop of Vulcan," "Achilles and Priam," and the 
.favorite medallions "Night" and "Morning"; in 1816, 
anew "Hebe," another "Ganymede," and his "Venus," 



A DAY WITH THOR WALDSEN. 



19 



besides the restoration of the JEg'ma, marbles. The 
influence of these marbles is thought* to be visible in 
an increased severity of style in works composed dur- 
ing the following year: a third " Ganymede and the 
Eagle," "The Young Shepherd and Dog," and " Hope." 
" Love Victorious," the " Dancing Girl," and busts of 
Lord Byron and the Baroness von Humboldt, belong 
also to this year. " Mercury," the "Three Graces," a 
group for the chapel of the Pitti Palace at Florence: 
" Christ giving the Keys to St. Peter," and the design 
for the "Lion of Lucerne" were composed in 1818 
and '19. 

At this time Thorwaldsen made his first visit to 
Copenhagen since he had left it in 1796. His parents 
were dead. Apartments were prepared for him in the 
Charlottenburg Palace, where the Royal Academy is 
established. He received an ovation, was made coun- 
sellor of state, that he might be invited to the king's 
table, and went back to Rome, with the order for the 
statues for the Frue Kirke. 

Twenty years later he returned to Copenhagen 
"for good," sailing in a Danish frigate, which was 
sent to convey him from Leghorn, with his effects in 
sixty-two boxes. He was only one month on the 
voyage, instead of six, as when he went to Italy. 

He was received like a conquering hero. The frigate, 
detained off Helsingor, was met by a steamer crowded 
with people, from that city and the Swedish city of 
Helsingborg, with a band playing national airs, and 
a chorus singing patriotic hymns; and at night the 
northern sky hung out her banners in welcome to the 
returning genius. Next day was foggy and rainy; but 
when it was known that the frigate was approaching, 



20 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



a fleet of boats started down the harbor to meet her. 
The artists displayed a banner adorned with Thor- 
waldsen's " Three Graces " ; the poets were under 
Pegasus; the students, under Minerva; the physicians 
had Esculapius; the mechanics, Vulcan; while the 
boat of the naval officers in command appropriately 
displayed Neptune. The boats divided into two com- 
panies, encircling the frigate, and at that moment a 
brilliant rainbow formed a triumphal arch above them. 
When he landed, so great was the crowd, that he did 
not know that the horses had been removed, and his 
carriage was drawn by the people. He reached his 
rooms in the Royal Academy, and the palace was 
besieged by the multitude, who refused to disperse 
without a sight of Thorwaldsen. As he stepped out 
to salute them, " Would not any one think," said he, 
smiling, "that I were the pope, about to give the 
benediction from the . balcony of St. Peter's ! " This 
reception was but the prelude to numerous ovations; 
his days were filled with visitors; every evening he 
dined at a different house. His letters were so nu- 
merous that he required a secretary; crowds of beg- 
gars besieged him, and all the Thorwaldsens in the 
kingdom claimed relationship. He began to feel that 
he should never do anything more, unless he left Co- 
penhagen. Fortunately he found a refuge at the coun- 
try house of his kind friends, the Baron and Baroness 
von Stampe, who built for him a small atelier, in which 
he composed many fine works. To the persuasions of 
the baroness we owe the portrait-statue of Thorwaldsen. 

In 1841 and '42, he made a final visit to Rome. His 
journey through Germany was a triumphal progress. 
On his return he found the Thorwaldsen Museum — de- 



A DAY WITH THORWALDSEN. 



signed by the Architect Bindesboll, and built by a 
public subscription — nearly completed. He was here 
received by the City Council and the committee of 
public works. 

On the morning of March 24, 1844, he rose early, 
complaining of slight illness; but, feeling better after a 
few hours' sleep, he passed the morning in work. He 
was modelling the bust of Luther, and left his tool 
thrust into a lump of clay, when he went with Baroness 
von Stampe to dine at her house. Speaking of his 
museum, he said, playfully: "Now I can die when I 
please; Bindesboll has finished my tomb." 

At the theatre, that evening, he rose to allow a lady 
to pass, and as she turned to thank him he had sunk 
down, and made no reply. Perceiving that he was ill, 
people came to his assistance, and he was carried to 
his rooms in the Charlottenburg Palace, close by. A 
physician opened a vein, but no blood flowed; life was 
extinct. 

His funeral was attended by the whole nation. 
With face uncovered and brow crowned with laurel, 
he lay in state, in the hall of ancient sculpture. A 
chorus of artists chanted a requiem. As the proces- 
sion moved through the streets, all the houses were 
hung with black; women threw flowers from the win- 
dows; no sound was heard but the tolling of bells and 
the soft chanting of choirs from the belfries. He was 
laid among his noble works, in a chapel of the Frue 
Kirke, until the interior of the museum was completed, 
Sept. 6, 1848, when his body was removed to its final 
resting-place. 

The museum is on the island, near the Christians- 
borg palace, and is in the style of Pompeian and 



2 2 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



Etruscan tombs. The pediment of the fac,ade is 
crowned with a bronze statue of the Goddess of Vic- 
tory, in a quadriga, designed by Thorwaldsen; and the 
other three sides of the building are adorned with 
scenes in plaster, representing the reception of the 
master after his return from Rome. It is built around 
the four sides of an open court, in the centre of which 
is the artist's grave. Entering at a side door, and pass- 
ing the stairway, you find yourself in a corridor, which 
runs round this court, and opens at one end into the 
grand vestibule, filled with colossal figures, models or 
casts of the monuments designed by Thorwaldsen; 
that of Pius VII., in St. Peter's, at Rome; the eques- 
trian statue of Maximilian I. at Munich; the Schiller 
monument at Stuttgart, and others. Passing through 
the corridor we notice, first, the "Lion of Lucerne," 
then the casts of the group in the tympanum of the 
Frue Kirke, which we are glad to study at our leisure, 
to better advantage than when standing with upturned 
faces in the rain. The central figure of " St. John the 
Baptist," is nearly eight feet in height, and the breadth 
of the pediment not quite forty-two feet. Seven figures 
on each side — the nearest standing, the next sitting or 
kneeling, and the extremes reclining — form a group 
which fits naturally into its triangular frame. (Was it 
not from this necessary arrangement of the figures in 
a pediment that the idea arose of a law of composition 
in the form of a pyramid, which was applied to paint- 
ings also ?) At the end opposite the vestibule is the 
Christ Saloon, where are grouped the casts of Christ 
and the Apostles. The corridor beyond contains a 
plaster copy of the " Procession of Alexander." On 
each side of the building, beyond the corridor, is a row 



A DAY WITH THOR WALDSEN. 23 

of cabinets, twenty-one in all, filled with statues and 
bass-reliefs — classical subjects, scriptural subjects, and 
portrait busts and statues — over six hundred numbers 
in all. 

By original works, clay models, or copies in marble 
or plaster, all the works of the sculptor are here repre- 
sented. There are about forty scriptural subjects, 
twenty-five sepulchral monuments, thirteen public 
monuments, over forty statues and groups, and one 
hundred and thirty-six bass-reliefs from classical sub- 
jects; thirty-seven allegorical bass-reliefs, mostly of 
genii; nine portrait statues; over a hundred portrait 
busts and medallions, and ten or a dozen bass-reliefs, 
bringing up the rear of the catalogue, under the title 
of " Divers Subjects." Whatever the faults of his ma- 
turity may have been, certainly the accusation of idle- 
ness could no longer be brought against Thorwaldsen. 

In the upper corridor is a smaller copy of the "Al- 
exander," and a number of casts and models. The 
cabinets contain Thorwaldsen's picture gallery, mainly 
composed of works by modern artists; a few presented 
to him by such artists as Overbeck, Schadow, Richter 
and Horace Vernet; others, of less merit, purchased by 
him, often at high prices, to assist the poor painters. 
One cabinet contains a valuable selection from his en- 
gravings; others exhibit his own sketches and designs; 
five are filled with his collection of antiquities, one 
holds his library, and the last and most interesting of 
all contains his furniture and his unfinished works, in- 
cluding the bust of Luther, with the tool thrust into 
the lump of clay, which still retains the impress of the 
master's hand. 

Before we leave the museum, we go back once more 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



to the corridor, where the door stands open into the 
courtyard, and stepping out in the summer rain, over 
the soft green turf, to the rectangular, ivy-covered 
mound, we pluck a single leaf from the grave of 
Thorwaldsen. 

Do you remember Andersen's story of the "Old 
Swan's Nest, between the East Sea and the North 
Sea?" "We saw a swan strike the marble rock with 
his wing, so that it cleft asunder, and the forms of 
beauty, imprisoned in the stone, stepped forth into the 
light of day, and people of all lands lifted their heads 
to see these mighty forms." 

Like Thorwaldsen, Andersen was a frequent guest 
at Stampeborg, and when the sculptor had enjoyed 
his after-dinner nap and his evening treat of music, he 
would walk up and down the room, and end by saying, 
"Well, Herr Andersen, are not we children to be 
treated this evening to some little fairy tale ? " It was 
Andersen, who told him, precisely one year before his 
death, of the sudden death of Admiral Wolff, the Da- 
nish translator of Shakespeare, who was taken ill at the 
Theatre Royal, driven home in a carriage, and found 
dead at his own door. "Well," said Thorwaldsen, 
" is not that an admirable way to die, and one to be 
envied ? " 

When death came to him so suddenly, we may hope 
it was not an unwelcome surprise, but only the arrival 
of a friend for whom he was cheerfully waiting. 

Thorwaldsen was never given to writing; his biog- 
raphers found no letters nor journals to refer to; his 
mind must be studied from his works. Beside his own 
devotion to the antique marbles, which were the first 
to arouse his enthusiasm and awaken his genius, he 



A DAY WITH THOR WALDSEN. 



25 



was greatly influenced by the theories of Winckelmann, 
of whom his friend Zoega was an earnest disciple. 

Canova was the first to profit by these theories, but 
Thorwaldsen gave them more complete expression. 

His deities remind one of Winckelmann's descrip- 
tion of the process of making a hero into a god. 
''The effect is produced rather by subtraction than 
addition; that is to say, by the gradual abstraction of 
all those parts which even in nature are sharply and 
strongly expressed, until the shape becomes refined 
to such an extent that only the spirit within appears 
to have brought it into being." 

Even in illustrating Christian subjects Thorwald- 
sen's style was purely classical. As Plon justly ob- 
serves, " He had not the enthusiasm which comes of 
faith. Aiming above all at beauty, if he ever animates 
his figures, it is with philosophic thought; and his 
works are more fitted to satisfy the mind of the 
thinker than the heart of the Christian." It is a 
significant fact that he expressed himself satisfied 
with his statue of Christ. As an artist this startled 
him; he had reached his highest point, when the 
execution equalled the conception. But, was he sat- 
isfied with the conception ? 

Thorwaldsen seems to have lived almost wholly in 
his art. Of other things, literature, science, philoso- 
phy, he remained ignorant, and apparently content to 
be so. His religion was as purely a feeling as Beetho- 
ven's; whether he ever thought out for himself a sys- 
tem of belief is hardly necessary to question; he was 
not a thinker, but an artist. He was educated a 
Lutheran; taking his catechism and confirmation as a 
matter of course. When he went to Rome, in a time 
2 



26 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



of political agitation, between Catholicism on the one 
hand and French infidelity on the other, his mind 
seemed to rest in indifference. He passed for a scep- 
tic. A friend once remarked that his want of religious 
faith must make it difficult to express Christian ideas 
in his works. " If I were altogether an unbeliever," 
he replied, "why should that give me any trouble? 
Have I not represented Pagan divinities ? Still, I don't 
believe in them." 

Did he, then, represent religious and classical sub- 
jects equally as myths? " If I were an unbeliever," 
implies assuredly that he was not. In the latter part 
of his life he executed many bass-reliefs from scrip- 
ture subjects, for monuments, altar pieces, asylums, 
Christmas presents, etc., which show a turning of his 
mind to the study of the Bible rather than of the 
classic mythology. 

As a man he was genial, kind-hearted and generous, 
in spite of the petty economies which are related of his 
old age, and the somewhat suspicious temper which 
had grown upon him; simple as a child, unpretending, 
never spoiled by flattery, royal notice, or world-wide 
renown. Beloved and honored by his countrymen, he 
rests from his labors, and if his works do not "follow 
him," at least they stand guard around his sepulchre. 



III. 



COPENHAGEN TO CHRISTIANIA — ON THE "KONG 
SVERRE." 

HPHE Christiansborg Palace is so near the museum 
that it seemed natural to visit it next, though 
we afterwards decided that our time might have been 
spent to better purpose. It is not now the royal resi- 
dence, that honor being enjoyed by the Amalienborg 
Palace, in a more aristocratic quarter of the city. 

The facade is adorned with sculptures by Thor- 
waldsen, and in the chamber of the council of state 
are his caryatides, on each side the throne, and a 
marble copy of the great Alexander frieze. The walls 
are painted with scenes from Danish history, by Eckers- 
berg. This palace also contains the halls in which the 
upper and lower chambers assemble, the court chapel, 
and the Royal Library of five hundred thousand vol- 
umes. The upper floor of the immense building is 
occupied by the Royal Picture Gallery. We wan- 
dered through a dreary wilderness of rooms, finding 
nothing of special interest, after our experience of the 
great galleries of Europe, until we came to the* last 
six, which are filled with the works of modern Danish 
masters — landscapes, historical paintings and scenes 
from peasant life, some of which were very interesting. 
But we had wasted precious time. When we reached 



2 8 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



the Prindsens Palais, where are the Museum of Northern 
Antiquities — " finest of its kind in existence," contain- 
ing over forty thousand objects, admirably arranged 
in chronological order, in five leading departments, 
from the Flint Period through the Bronze and Iron 
and Mediaeval-Christian periods, down to about 1660, 
— and the Ethnographical Museum, also one of the 
most extensive in Europe, occupying thirty-five rooms; 
besides other collections of antiquities, coins and en- 
gravings — we were not allowed to enter. The hours 
were over, or it was not the right day, and no amount 
of buono-mano, trinkgeld, pourboire, or its equivalent 
in Danish, could procure us admission. 

We regretted missing the sight of these antiquities 
at the outset of our journey, but looked forward to 
repairing the omission upon our return, when famili- 
arity with the country of Odin and Thor would make 
these relics of their subjects and worshippers more 
interesting. 

Where should we go next ? To the Rosenborg Pal- 
ace, with its collections of jewellery, carvings, weap- 
ons, furniture and mediaeval bric-a-brac — a sort of 
Danish Hotel Cluny, combined with the green vaults 
of Dresden ? But Baedeker says something about ap- 
plication being made on the previous day, which is 
discouraging. We ought to have driven there and 
made the attempt, but we were tired; the boat was 
to leave at 5 P. M., we had breakfasted early, and we 
began to want our dinner. We suggested shopping 
for pottery, and porcelain copies of Thorwaldsen's 
marbles, or photographs of the same; but the sug- 
gestion was frowned upon- by the gentleman of our 
party, who reminded us of the extremely limited 



COPENHAGEN TO CHRIS TIA NIA . 



2Q 



amount of luggage we were intending to carry through 
Norway. (He was evidently very hungry.) 

Besides, were we not all coming back again ? This 
argument had weight; and the lady who had been ill 
the evening before was particularly tired. So we went 
to the Hotel Royal, enjoyed our dinner, at one end of 
a long table in the immense dining-hall, and by and 
by drove sadly back to the "Kong Sverre," and re- 
sumed our sofas in the ladies' cabin. 

We did not leave Copenhagen without thinking of 
our old favorite, Hans Andersen; but there was no 
time to call, and were we not coming again ? We 
did not know how ill he was, until after we reached 
Christiania; when we met friends who had been with 
us in Florence, at the "Norway evening," and who, 
unknown to us, were now at another hotel in Co- 
penhagen. Mrs. S. sent her card to Hans Andersen's 
house, inquiring whether he were able to receive 
her, but was informed that he was too ill to see any 
visitors. He was then staying at the residence of a 
friend, in the country, where he died a few weeks later. 

Rather more than halfway up the Sound we passed 
the Swedish island of Hveen, once the residence of the 
astronomer Tycho Brahe, whose tomb we had seen at 
Prague, a few weeks before. Here he built his observ- 
atory and his castle of Uranienborg; but the jealousy 
and slander of his enemies drove him to take refuge in 
a foreign land, under the patronage of the German 
emperor. 

Nearly three hundred years ago, Queen Sophia of 
Denmark, wife of Frederick II., was visiting the as- 
tronomer at his observatory, on the island of Hveen, 
and was detained for two days by stormy weather. To 



3° 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



make the time pass pleasantly, Tycho Brahe sug- 
gested that Anders Vedel, one of the company, should 
recite some of the old ballads, of which he was making 
a collection. The queen listened in delight, and laid 
her commands on Vedel to complete and publish his 
collection, which he did in 1 591 . This selection in- 
cluded one hundred ballads, chosen from many more, 
of the "Danske Visor," which have since been col- 
lected and published. Their striking similarity to 
many of the early English and Scotch ballads leads 
to the belief that these Avere of Scandinavian origin. 

Next, we came to Helsingor, more familiar to us 
as Elsinore, and associated with Hamlet and Lord 
Nelson. 

"Let us think of those who sleep, 
Full many a fathom deep, 
By thy stern and stormy steep, 
Elsinore ! " 

The Kronborg occupies the most conspicuous part 
of the town: a picturesque fortress, dating from the 
sixteenth century. Here, in 1426, King Erik built 
castles, on both sides the Sound, at Helsingor and 
Helsingborg, and exacted tribute from all passing ves- 
sels. Might makes right, and the Sound dues were 
collected until, in 1857, the Danish Government agreed 
to commute them, for a payment of three and a half 
million pounds sterling from the nations chiefly inter- 
ested. The Flag Battery, where the Dannebrog or 
national banner is planted, is said to be the platform 
of the castle of Elsinore, where the ghost appeared 
to Hamlet. In the pleasure grounds of Marienlyst, a 
royal chateau not far distant, a walk used to be pointed 



COPENHAGEN TO CHRISTIAN/A. 



3* 



out as Hamlet's Garden, and a heap of stones with 
some Runic inscriptions was called his grave, both 
having been invented or arranged to satisfy the curi- 
osity of English tourists. 

According to Saxo Grammaticus, who flourished 
under Waldemar the Great (i 157-1202) and spent 
twenty years in writing a Latin history of Denmark, 
from the earliest ages to his own time, " Amlett " was 
the son of Orwendel, king of Jutland. Fengo was the 
murderous uncle, who married Queen Gertrude, and 
sent Amlett to England, with orders to have him put 
to death; but he married the English king's daughter 
and returned to Denmark, and, after various advent- 
ures, killed Fengo, burned his palace and destroyed 
his adherents, and was himself raised to the throne 
of Jutland. He visited Britain a second time, and 
married a Scotch princess, but after returning to Den- 
mark was slain by Vigeletus, son of Rorik. " He was 
a prince," says Saxo, " who, if his good fortune had 
been equal to his deserts, would have rivalled the 
gods in splendor, and in his actions would have ex- 
celled even the labors of Hercules. Like Achilles, 
he had the principal achievements of his life wrought 
on his shield. The daughter of the king of Scotland, 
casting her eye on it, loved him for the battles he had 
won, and became his bride." 

A French romance, based upon this story, was 
translated and published in England under the title, 
" The Historye of Hamblet," from which Shakespeare 
took the framework of his play. 

Do you know the legend of the royal standard 
which floats from the fortress ? 

Pope Honorius III. had granted to Waldemar the 



32 



A SCANDINAVIAN- SUMMER. 



Great all the lands he could conquer from the heathen 
of Esthonia; and the king undertook a crusade against 
them, "as well for the honor of the Virgin Mary, the 
patroness of the province, as for the forgiveness of his 
own sins." He raised a great army, and set sail in a 
fleet of fourteen hundred ships. Some of these were 
little boats called "snekker" — snails (in allusion to 
their rate of speed ?), carrying only two warriors, be- 
sides the oarsmen; others were "dragons," or war- 
ships, carrying each one hundred and twenty men. 
The armament was landed at Revel, on the Gulf of 
Finland; the terrified inhabitants implored mercy, and 
consented to be baptized. But after three days they 
surprised the camp by night, and a great battle en- 
sued, in which the Danes came near being routed. 
They had lost their standard, and begun to give way 
before the heathen, when a banner dropped from the 
sky, bearing a white cross on a red ground, following 
which they won the victory. This was the Danne- 
brog, which has been honored ever since as the na- 
tional flag, and this order of knighthood was instituted 
by Waldemar after his return from this expedition. 

Another national legend is connected with the 
vaults beneath the Kronborg. Here reposes the tute- 
lary genius of the country, Holger Danske, ready to 
arise when Denmark is in danger. There are various 
stories of this mighty warrior's appearance; once he 
was met by some shepherds in North Jutland; others 
saw him sitting half a mile from Slagelse; and there 
are stories of his appearance in Schleswig, which show 
that he does not always remain quietly asleep under 
the Kronborg, but walks abroad to see for himself 
how things are working. Sometimes a sound like the 



COPENHAGEN TO CHRIS TIA NIA . 



33 



clash of arms is heard under the fortress. To ascer- 
tain whence this came, a party of merry young men 
took a fancy to explore the underground passages, 
and to pay Holger Danske a visit. They came to a 
great iron door which opened of itself, and they found 
themselves in a vaulted room. From the ceiling hung 
a lamp, in which the oil was nearly burned out, and 1 
beneath it stood a mighty stone table, at which sat 
a gigantic, steel-clad warrior, with his head resting 
on his folded arms. As they entered, he raised his 
head, and lo ! his long beard had grown into the 
stone table. 

"Give me thy hand!" said he, to the foremost of 
his visitors. The young man did not venture to give 
the hero his hand, but held out an iron bar which he 
carried. Holger Danske seized it, thinking it to be 
the young man's hand (he was evidently only half 
awake), and squeezed it so powerfully that the im- 
pression of his fingers remained upon the iron. "I 
am glad to find that there are still men in Denmark," 
said he. "Say to thy lord, the king," he continued, 
" that I shall come forth at the right time. If there 
are no more men in Denmark who can take their 
places on the ramparts, I will gather under my ban- 
ner the boys over twelve and the old men over sixty, 
and with them I will free the land." 

This reminds one of the old legends of Barbarossa. 
Hans Andersen adds some particulars to this account 
.(which I have translated for you out of my little Da- 
nish Reader) in his Mahrchen of "Holger Danske": 
"In his dreams, the old warrior sees everything that 
happens in Denmark. On each Christmas Eve an 
angel comes and tells him that all he has dreamed is 

2^ 



34 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



true, and that he may sleep on in peace, as Denmark 
is not yet in any real danger; but should danger ever 
come, then Holger Danske will rouse himself, and the 
stone table will burst asunder as he draws out his 
beard. Then he will come forth in his strength, and 
strike a blow that shall sound in all the countries of 
the world." 

The little Reader goes on to explain the meaning 
of the legend; but Hans Andersen does not thus insult 
the understanding of his readers, and neither shall I. 

How much nobler is this guardian hero than " Ogier, 
the Dane," of the mediaeval romances, as Morris rep- 
resents him in the " Earthly Paradise," dwelling in 
Avalon, with Morgan le Fay, oblivious of all his war- 
like deeds ! 

Sitting on deck in the evening, after comparing 
notes with our Stettin friends, who had given the 
museums a wide berth, and spent their time at the 
Tivoli Gardens, one of us asked, suddenly, "Who was 
Kong Sverre ?" 

(This was our first acquaintance among the old 
Norse kings, who spend their days more usefully than 
was their wont in olden times, having been " trans- 
lated" into steamships, and plying up and down the 
straits and along the coasts, instead of ravaging and 
destroying like the Berserkers they were. We took a 
particular interest in these worthies, and feel that 
they deserve a special introduction to our friends.) 

Nobody could remember Kong Sverre's name and 
place among the kings of the North; whether he came 
before Harold Harfager or after (we were shamefully 
ignorant of Scandinavian history, as too many trav- 
ellers are; not to speak of people who stay at home 



COPENHAGEN TO CHRIS T I AN I A . 



35 



and have access to libraries, and plenty of time to 
read); and it was too dark to consult our guide-books 
which would have told us very little. So the subject 
dropped; but I improved the earliest opportunity to 
enlighten our darkness, and will give, in brief, the 
result of my researches. 

Sverre was born in 1 1 5 1, during one of the chaotic 
periods of Norwegian history, and was the grand- 
son of a usurper, Harold Gille, who at his death left 
the kingdom to his three sons. Sverre's father, Sig- 
urd II., did not long survive his birth; and when his 
uncles had also perished, the crown went to Magnus, 
son of Christina (daughter of Sigurd I., the crusader), 
and Erling Shakke, a powerful noble, who by con- 
cessions to the bishops obtained their influence in 
favor of his son. 

Sverre's mother, Gunhilda, married a man who is 
called by some historians an armorer, and by others a 
wool comber; and, to preserve her child from his ene- 
mies, she allowed him to pass for the son of this man. 

The three went to her brother-in-law, a bishop 
in the Faroe Islands, who educated Sverre as a priest, 
and at the age of twenty-five he received holy orders. 
After this, his mother revealed to him his royal birth; 
and a dream, which he had soon after, aroused his 
ambition and led him to return to Norway. He 
dreamed that he was transformed into an enormous 
bird, the beak of which pointed to the Naze, the 
tail to the North Cape, while the wings overspread 
the whole country. 

He visited the court of Magnus, but not thinking 
the time ripe for an attempt upon the throne, he 
was on the point of starting on a pilgrimage to the 



3 6 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



Holy Land, when a band of rough warriors, called 
Birkibeiners, or Birch-legs — from their habit of using 
the bark as clothing — invited him to become their 
leader. At the head of these adventurers he trav- 
ersed Norway, and after several years of varied for- 
tune he obtained the supreme power. Magnus Er- 
lingson died in battle, and Sverre, after years of 
contention with the hostile clergy, got himself 
crowned at Throndhjem by a bishop of his own 
appointment. 

Archbishop Eistein and his successor, Erik, used 
their influence with the pope to procure the excom- 
munication of Sverre, as a priest who had married 
without a dispensation, and a usurper of the kingly 
power, and the pope finally placed both king and 
people under an interdict. 

This ban, the first in Norway (and I think the 
last, also), failed of its effect. The people were too 
ignorant to appreciate it; the clergy were afraid to 
carry it out; and the king, far from being intimidated, 
proved from the Bible, in an eloquent speech, that 
the pope had no authority over the civil power. 

Sverre was an uncommonly good king for those 
days. He restrained drunkenness — already the great 
vice of the North — by prohibiting the importation 
of wine and liquors; he improved the roads and pro- 
moted literature. Under his auspices was published 
the " Konge-speilet," or Royal Mirror, sometimes at- 
tributed to his authorship, but more likely written 
by one of his courtiers and friends. It is written in 
the old Norse language, and describes the manners, 
morals and history of that period. 

Kong Sverre died in Bergen in 1202, after a reign 



COPENHAGEN TO CHRIS TIA NIA . 



3 7 



of twenty-five years.* His son, Hakon III., reigned 
only two years; but his grandson, Hakon IV., pro- 
claimed king at the age of sixteen, subdued his ene- 
mies after twenty years of trouble, and holds high 
rank among the kings of Norway for activity and 
ability. Pope Innocent IV. courted his friendship, 
and promised him the imperial crown of Germany 
if he would help him to subdue the refractory Fried- 
rich II. of Hohenstauffen. That must have been 
pleasing to the grandson of the excommunicated 
Sverre; but he showed his wisdom by refusing to 
interfere. 

St. Louis of France invited him to join in a crusade, 
but Hakon thought it better to rule his kingdom at 
home. A shrewd, practical, common-sensible man, 
this Hakon; not a saint, probably, but a rarer char- 
acter in those days; a man content to do his duty 
in that state of life to which God had called him. 

His daughter, Christina, married Philip of Castile, 
brother of Alfonso; travelling to Spain for the pur- 
pose, under the escort of a bishop, Snorre Bjorn of 
Throndhjem, in 1256. When Snorre returned, he 
brought with him the " History of Dietrich of Berne," 
and other mediaeval romances, which were translated 
into Norse by the royal command. 

About this time the Icelandic skalds, or minstrels, 
ceased to frequent the Danish Court, Waldemar II. 
being the last king who entertained them; but Sturle 
Thordson sought refuge from troubles in Iceland, at 
the court of Hakon IV., not long before his fatal 
expedition to Scotland, and was afterwards employed 

*The Saga of King Sverre was written by Karl Jansen, an Icelandic 
abbot, who resided at Sverre 's court for two years. 



38 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



by Hakon's son, Magnus, to write an account of his 
father's life and death. To this writer we owe the 
" Knytlinga Saga," a chronicle of the Danish kings, 
written during his residence at the court of Walde- 
mar the Great. He was a nephew of Snorre Stur- 
lesen, whose famous " Heimskringla " is the source 
of most of our knowledge concerning the early kings 
of Norway. 

Among the fugitive princes of Scythia, expelled by 
Pompey in the Mithridatic war, tradition places the 
name of Odin, ruler of a tribe in Turkistan. Snorre 
relates that he came from Asaland, a region east of 
the Tanais, the capital of which was called Asgard, 
and the people Aser or Aesir. His true name was 
Sigge, son of Fridulf, but he assumed that of Odin, 
the supreme deity of the Scythians, of whose religion 
he was priest. The date generally assigned to his ap- 
pearance in the north is about B. C. 70. 

Sweden was called the Lesser Svithiod, from the 
Greater Svithiod, or Scythia, whence Odin came. The 
Scandinavian kingdoms, conquered by him, were in- 
herited by his three sons; Yngve, or Ingve, ruled in 
Sweden, and after him his descendants, the Ynglings; 
Skiold in Denmark, and the Skioldings, who, after 
Ivar Vifadme, A. D. 647, became also the rulers of 
Sweden; Saemingve in Norway, whose descendants are 
said to have reigned for many generations. 

With Ivar Vifadme, the first conqueror of Northum- 
berland, his grandson, Harold Hildetand, and their 
successors, Sigurd Ring and Ragnar Lodbrok, we come 
into English history, and soon to Knut and Hard- 
aknut, names "familiar to the ear as household words." 
When Ivar conquered the Ynglings, in Sweden, Olaf, 



COPENHAGEN TO CHRIS TIA NIA . 39 



son of the conquered king, fled to the region west bf 
the Wener Lake, with a few followers, where he hewed 
down the forests (whence his name, Olaf Trcetelia — 
the tree-cutter) and founded a new kingdom. The 
seventh in descent from Olaf was Harold Harfager. 

Ragnar Lodbrok bestowed the Swedish crown on 
one of his sons, Bjorn Jarnsida, Bear Ironsides — an 
amiable name; but he must have been an uncom- 
monly tough character to deserve it. The old prov- 
erb says, "The bear has twelve men's understanding 
and six men's strength." In his grandson's reign, we 
are poetically informed, " The light of the Gospel first 
dawned in the North" ; but it was a twilight of one 
hundred years or more before Christianity was fairly 
established, under Olaf Skotkonung, who was baptized 
with his whole family in 1001. Olaf was contempo- 
rary with St. Olaf of Norway. His father, Erik, had 
destroyed the great heathen temple at Upsala, and 
was murdered in a tumult of the people. This Erik 
should have been a saint by good rights; but that 
title was reserved for his descendant, who perished 
at Upsala, sixty years later, resisting a rebellion of 
his subjects. 

Harold Harfager stands out on the misty back- 
ground of mythical ancestors, the first really distinct 
and shining figure in the history of Norway. His fa- 
ther, Halfdan, seems to have been a wise and good 
ruler, for a heathen chieftain; "a man of truth and 
uprightness," says Snorre, "who made laws and ob- 
served them himself, and compelled others to observe 
them. And that violence should not come in place 
of the laws, he himself fixed the number of crim- 
inal acts in law, and the compensations, mulcts and 



40 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



penalties for each case, according to every one's birth 
and dignity." Halfdan's laws were established at the 
Eidsvold Thing, his kingdom comprising the interior 
and southern portion of Norway. His death, at the 
age of forty, left the throne to Harold of the Fair 
Hair, then a boy of ten years. The dates of his birth 
and death, fixed by contemporary events in English 
history, are about A. D. 850-931, giving him a reign of 
seventy years. He ruled his father's domains quietly 
for awhile, until he was stimulated to the conquest of 
Norway by the message of the proud Gyda, daughter 
of King Erik of Hordaland, for whom he had sent 
messengers. "Tell him I will only be his wife on 
one condition — that he shall first subject to himself 
the whole of Norway, so that he may rule over that 
kingdom as freely as King Erik over Sweden, or King 
Gorm over Denmark, for only then, methinks, can he 
be called the king of a great people." 

Harold's spirit was roused, and he made the sol- 
emn vow, "calling God to witness, who made me and 
rules over all things, that never shall I clip or comb 
my hair until I have subdued all Norway with scot 
and duties and domains; or if not, have died in the 
attempt." 

He started up the valley, Gudbrandsdal, and north, 
over the Dovrefjeld, and when he came to inhabited 
land, ordered all the men to be killed, and everything, 
wide around, to be given to the flames. People fled, 
"some to Orkadal, some to Gaulerdal, some to the 
forests"; some begged for peace, and obtained it, 
joining the king and his men. From one district to 
another the devastating army marched, against two 
kings here, and four kings there; "some fell and some 



COPENHAGEN TO CHRIS TIANIA . 



41 



fled"; there were eight battles in the Throndhjem 
district, and as many chieftains subdued; then Har- 
old fixed his residence at Lade, in the fjord (not 
far from the present town of Throndhjem), and in 
the spring fitted out his ships. He had "a great 
army, many large ships, and many men of might"; 
and on his own long-ship or " Great Dragon" his 
house-troops and Berserkers, picked men, remark- 
able for strength and dexterity, chosen from the 
best men of every district. With this force he sub- 
dued the regions of the coast south of Throndhjem, 
and the Romsdal during the summer, returning for 
winter quarters. 

The next season he made wider conquests, through 
the fjord districts and the south, sailing up the Chris- 
tiania Fjord and subduing the country about the Glom- 
men River. The decisive battle of Hafur's Fjord took 
place a year or two later, when the people of Horda- 
land, Rogaland, Agder and Hedemark united their 
forces against him in the fjord north of the Jederen 
district (near Stavanger). "A great battle began, 
which was both hard and long; but at last King Har- 
old gained the day." After this he had no great op- 
position. Instead of fighting, the unsubdued chieftains 
fled. Jemteland and Helsingland were peopled then, 
and Iceland and the Faroe Isles. There was great 
resort to Shetland, and viking cruises into the West 
Sea. Many vikings spent the winters in the Orkney 
Islands and the Hebrides, and the summers marauding 
on the coast of Norway; and Harold made repeated 
expeditions for their chastisement — at first to the isles 
and skerries along the coast, then to the Shetland, and 
Hebrides and Orkney islands; and then " plundered 



42 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



far and wide into Scotland itself." It was ten years 
from the time of his vow, before he had his hair cut 
and combed; but he had married Gyda, after the bat- 
tle of Hafur's Fjord. 

Harold lived to be eighty years old, and before his 
death divided the kingdom among his sons. He died 
on a bed of sickness in Rogaland, and was buried under 
a mound, at Hougarsund. A church was standing, in 
Snorre Sturlesen's time, and he particularly describes 
Harold's grave-mound and stone, thirteen feet six 
inches high and two ells broad. The stone, which 
is still shown there, may well be the same. 

At the recent Thousand-year Jubilee, in 1872, a 
granite obelisk was erected on this spot, and dedicated 
by King Oscar II. to the memory of Harold Harfager. 

" According to the report of men of knowledge," 
says Snorre, " Harold was of remarkably handsome 
appearance, great and strong, and very generous and 
affable to his men. He was a great warrior in his 
youth; and people think that this was foretold by his 
mother Queen Ragnilda's dream, before his birth, as 
the lower part of the tree she dreamt of was red 
as blood. The stem, again, was green and beautiful, 
which betokened his flourishing kingdom, and that the 
tree was white at the top showed that he should reach 
a gray-haired old age. The branches and twigs showed 
forth his posterity, spread over the whole land, for of 
his race ever since Norway has always had kings." * 

After passing Helsingor, we emerged through the 

* A genealogical work, published in Stockholm under the title, "Harold 
Harfager Aff Komlinger pa Europes Throner," proves that not in Norway 
only, but in most of the countries of Europe, the royal families may trace 
their descent to Harold Harfager. 



COPENHAGEN TO CHRISTIAN/A. 



43 



gradually widening straits, into the Kattegat. Name 
remembered of my childish days, and with its compan- 
ion, the Skagerack, somehow ominous of evil! 

The evening was rough, the night rougher, and the 
morning dawns, gray and dismal. Our friend, think- 
ing discretion the better part of valor, keeps her bertl ; 
but we struggle up, and attain the deck, where we 
take refuge from the drizzling rain in the little house, 
about six feet square, already occupied by the old gen- 
tleman from Stettin and a Swedish gentleman and 
lady, who are taking their kaffee and kavringer. The 
latter is a sweet sort of bread, cut in slices and rusked 
in the oven — the favorite attendant of the morning cup 
of coffee. You get this on deck any time after 6 A. M., 
and breakfast proper at nine, in the cabin, after the 
double rows of sleepers have been waked and cleared 
away. Fish, beefsteak fried with onions, raw ham, 
eggs, wheat and rye bread, the latter with caraway 
seeds in it, form this repast, never an attractive one to 
us, and wholly neglected upon the present occasion. 

As the gentlemen finish their coffee, they get out 
their pipes, and the house soon becomes uninhabitable 
by American ladies. 

We did not discover, until afterwards, that such 
places, including companion ways, with cushioned sofas, 
were designed exclusively for the comfort of the sterner 
sex; while the ladies, if they cannot be happy in their 
berths, must content themselves with a camp-stool, or 
a wooden bench, outside. 

We found seats, and made mummies of ourselves in 
our wraps, and held up our umbrellas when it rained 
very hard, if we felt equal to the exertion. 

Dinner was announced, and was devoured by those 



44 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



who wanted it; one of the mummies with some diffi- 
culty ate an orange, which sufficed her for that day. 
Oh, how selfish it makes us to be miserable, especially 
on shipboard ! Every little while one of us would say, 
" Poor Miss M.! You ought to go down and see if she 
does not want something"; but the other would reply, 
with hardness of heart incredible under any other cir- 
cumstances, " Oh, I think the stewardess will take 
care of her." 

But, by and by, we got into calmer waters, emerg- 
ing from the Skagerack into the great Christiania 
Fjord; the clouds lifted, and the lovely blue hills and 
green shores of old Norway appeared to our delighted 
eyes. 

The sail up the fjord was charming, and our spirits 
rose as we neared Christiania; nevertheless, we landed 
in rather a limp and discouraged condition. A cab- 
driver took charge of our luggage, but conducted us to 
a little shed, where it was to be examined by the cus- 
tom-house officer; and for a time it seemed doubtful 
whether we should get any farther that night. 

A travelling merchant was exhibiting his goods; 
yards upon yards were unrolled and measured; bales 
lay about on the benches, waiting their turn; mean- 
while our modest bags and bundles craved attention 
in vain. Whether from the stupidity consequent upon 
our day of fasting, or from vague ideas of the stern, in- 
corruptible honesty of these Norsemen, I know not; 
but I doubt if it entered our heads to offer the inspector 
"a little something," anymore than it had upon our 
landing in Liverpool at midnight. But we were con- 
vinced, upon reflection, that it was all he was waiting 
for. We had nothing dutiable, and said so, but offered 



COPENHAGEN TO CHRIS TIA NIA . 45 

our luggage for examination; that did not seem to sat- 
isfy him. Finally, our cabby in disgust snatched up 
the portmanteau nearest, with some muttered expla- 
nation to the inspector, — probably curses at our stu- 
pidity, — and we followed him to the cab unmolested. 

Our Florence friends had recommended Hotel Scan- 
dinavia; but the family from Stettin assured us that the 
Grand Hotel was the newest and best, so we drove 
thither. It is a long way from the steamer landing, 
but in the pleasantest part of the city, on the large 
square before the Storthing House (Parliament Build- 
ing), and not far from the new palace. 

A porter, gorgeous in green and gold uniform, and 
long, fair whiskers, received us at the street entrance, 
speaking English in the most genial manner, looked 
up rooms and took down keys from the great black- 
board hanging in the hall, and sent us up three flights 
of stairs. The rooms were small, and far too near the 
sky to suit us; but we could change, doubtless, when 
other guests should leave. Our Stettin friends were 
established in pleasant rooms on the floor below; and 
we met, soon after, in the large coffee room on the 
corner, overlooking the square; and while we took our 
tea and something more substantial, we heard the 
band playing in the gardens, and watched the people 
promenading. Here we were in Norway at last; and 
it was quite right that the sun should be high in the 
heavens at nine o'clock, and that there should be 
no thought of candles at bedtime. 

We were tired enough to sleep, the first night; but 
afterwards, darken our windows as much as we could, 
without blinds or shutters, we were broad awake un- 
til long after midnight, and started up, at all sorts 



46 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



of hours, under the impression that it was high time 
to rise. It became a question with us whether there 
were any regular bedtime for Norwegians in summer; 
men, women and children seemed always up and about 
the streets. Perhaps they sleep enough during the 
long winter to last them through the short summer of 
daylight. 

But we found, when we had occasion to make an 
early start, that they keep very late hours in the 
morning, as well, and that it was almost an impossi- 
bility to get our coffee earlier than nine o'clock. 



IV. 



A WEEK IN CHRISTIANIA. 

OUR first walk in Christiania was not, as usual, to 
the banker's, but to the establishment of Mr. 
T. Bennett, in the "Store Strand gade," which we 
found after some difficulty. Here is the "guide, phi- 
losopher, and friend," to whom English and American 
tourists look, and not in vain, for information, advice 
and assistance. Mr. Bennett is an Oxford graduate, 
who happened somehow to settle in Christiania, and 
makes a business of facilitating travel; earning thereby 
the gratitude of many an ignorant and helpless tourist. 
Indeed, if we had not had ''T. Bennett" to look for- 
ward to, I doubt if we should ever have ventured upon 
a tour in Norway. 

He publishes annually, a guide-book, with full, and, 
usually accurate, information concerning all the routes, 
stations and prices for posting, and a still more valua- 
ble phrase-book, containing all the necessary words 
and phrases, with English translation and pronuncia- 
tion. He is prepared to furnish carriages or carioles, 
harness, provisions, wines, and all other requisites for 
travel, and he will act as your banker and postmaster, 
if you wish, receiving and forwarding letters. Miss 
M. had already engaged his assistance in that capacity. 

We entered under an archway, a courtyard, full of 
old lumbering vehicles, and ascended to the second 



48 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



story by an outside stairway, in the rear of the house. 
Through a room, with walls lined with books, and 
tables covered with papers, pamphlets and sheet mu- 
sic, we passed into another filled with curiosities of all 
kinds, wood carvings, old silver, tolle-knive (the knives 
worn by the peasants), and curious articles of dress and 
jewellery. Mr. Bennett was busy with an English lady 
and gentleman, whom he was just starting off; and we 
returned to the courtyard to see them packed, with 
their belongings, into one of the rickety open wagons, 
and drive out under the archway. Then we examined 
the different equipages, and made choice of one which 
seemed most likely to answer our purpose; a "trille," 
or two-seated phaeton, without cover, with boxes un- 
der the seats to contain our condensed luggage. Mr. 
Bennett considered our case, and advised a route, 
which we afterwards adopted. We were decided on 
going to Throndhjem over the Dovrefjeld; but he 
suggested the Romsdal in addition; leaving the regu- 
lar route at Dombaas, and going up the valley of the 
Rauma as far as Naes, or Molde, and back again, a 
journey of four or five days through some of the finest 
scenery in Norway. We were to start in two or three 
days, if we could be ready so soon; that would bring 
us to Throndhjem in time for the steamer sailing 
northwards June 30. He would telegraph for state- 
rooms for our party. Meanwhile, a gentleman entered, 
who, upon hearing our names, claimed acquaintance, 
introducing himself as an American and a friend of 
our brother, then in London. 

He had come straight from Hull, and informed us 
that our brother and his wife had decided to visit Nor- 
way, and were coming in the next steamer. "You 



A WEEK IN CHRISTIANIA . 



49 



have not received his telegram ? Well, you will find 
it at the banker's." This welcome news involved a 
change of programme; at least, nothing definite could 
be settled until after the arrival of our friends. So Mr. 
Bennett was instructed to wait further developments, 
and we went to the banker's to find our telegram and 
letters from home. * 

The " Hero," from Hull, would be due on Monday; 
this was Wednesday; we could hardly start under a 
week. With so much time on our hands we felt in no 
hurry about sight-seeing; but after dinner we adopted 
the suggestion of our Stettin friends, and joined them 
in an excursion to the Frogner saeter, a little country 
seat on the hill several miles back from the city, be- 
longing to the banker, Thomas Heftye. 

A " saeter" proper is a sort of mountain dairy farm, 
where the cows are pastured during the summer and 
the milk cared for, and butter and cheese made, by 
one or more of the daughters or maid-servants of the 
family. The house is usually a rude cabin, like a Swiss 
chalet, without its picturesque architecture, and with its 
dirt and squalor. These are seldom visited by travellers, 
as they are apt to be on rather inaccessible summits. 

As we drive out of the city, past the new palace, 
we notice many pretty cottage residences, which re- 
mind us of those in the suburbs of Boston and other 
New England towns. We soon leave the road, and 
drive through woods and fields, passing through gates 
occasionally, which divide one property from another, 
which are opened for our carriages by rosy-cheeked 
children, expectant of copper skillings in reward. 
(The skilling is about the value of a cent.) 

We wind up and up, the air growing finer and purer 
3 



5° 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



as we climb, with a sweet, wild aroma which reminds 
us, as do the pines and birches of these upland pas- 
tures, of our own White Mountains, or more yet of the 
Adirondack region. It is our first taste of that won- 
derful elixir vitae, the bracing, stimulating Norway air, 
which is to be our best medicine this summer, and to 
sustain us cheerfully under privations and fatigues yet 
unknown. 

When we reach the chalet, we are thirteen hundred 
feet above the sea, and look down upon the gleaming 
waters of the fjord and its picturesque shores, one of 
the finest views in the neighborhood of Christiania. 
We remark then, as we do later, when driving around 
the bay, the resemblance of the scenery to Mt. Desert. 
After enjoying this view from the front veranda of the 
chalet — which is a pretty little building in Swiss style, 
containing a few large rooms, very simply furnished — 
we returned to the farmhouse, a few rods back, where 
we had left the carriage. To our surprise, the horses 
had been taken out, and we learned that walking was 
the order of the day for the remainder of the expedi- 
tion. The road was too steep and too narrow for these 
heavy carriages. It was the general custom to go on 
foot to the tower, at the summit of the hill. In short, 
we discovered that if we wished to drive, we should 
have made our bargain beforehand. Two Swedish 
naval officers joined the party, and the young peo- 
ple stepped out merrily. It was but a little way, they 
told us; an eighth of a mile, perhaps. But Norse miles 
are seven times as long as English. The unfortunate 
one who never could " keep up with the procession," 
unless mounted on a saddle horse or a capable donkey, 
soon began to lag. " Now you know you never can 



A WEEK IN CHRIS TIA NIA . 



51 



walk to the top, and you may as well stop here as any- 
where," said her sympathizing friends. She acquiesced, 
and sat down to rest, while they went on; then fol- 
lowed at a distance, hoping for some outlook. But 
the path wound higher and higher, always shut in by 
the forest. It might have been a mountain path in 
Berkshire County, or Bethlehem, N. H., or the ascent 
to some breezy summit anywhere in the hill country 
of New England or northern New York. The sweet, 
wild fragrance and the clear air seemed more home- 
like than anything since she had crossed the sea. So 
she sat down on the short grass, under the " murmur- 
ing pines and the hemlocks," and picked wild flowers 
and bits of greenness, and dreamed herself back into 
unforgotten summers, with dear friends far away. By 
and by she strolled back to the farmhouse, and they 
found her on their return sitting by a deal table and 
drinking milk. 

" It was a long pull; it was well you did not go." 

"I went farther than you did," she answered; "I 
went home." 

They stared a little, asked if the milk were good, 
and ordered a fresh supply. Then they drove back, 
not in the twilight, but the late afternoon, — -say from 
eight to ten o'clock, — the pleasantest time for driving 
in the North. 

And as the drive to the Frogner saeter is by far the 
pleasantest in the neighborhood, all other drives — to 
the Egberg, along the coast, to the Mariedal Lake, 
and to the peninsula of Ladegaardsoe — were in a meas- 
ure disappointing. I would not advise the tourist to 
take this drive first, if he intends the others, but let 
this by no means be omitted. 



5 2 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



Next day we had a revival of the spirit of sight- 
seeing, and we hunted up, not without difficulty, the 
Kunstverein (Art Union rooms, where pictures by na- 
tive artists are kept for sale) and the National Gallery. 
Some landscapes and little figure pieces in the former 
were very pretty; but impracticable prices were de- 
manded. We found the usual collection of inferior 
"old masters" at the National Gallery, and a few fine 
paintings by Norwegian artists, one of which, by Tide- 
mand, lives in my memory. In the interior of a peas- 
ant's house are gathered a group of men, women and 
children; old and young hanging with intense interest 
upon the lips of a young man who stands in the centre, 
speaking with deepest earnestness. It might be a 
group of Scottish Covenanters, risking their lives to 
worship God after their own consciences. 

Not having a catalogue, we did not ascertain the 
subject at the time; but found afterwards that this was 
Tidemand's great painting of "The Haugians," a re- 
ligious sect in Norway. It was painted at Diisseldorf, 
and obtained the gold medal of the Berlin Academy. 
The original is in the Diisseldorf Gallery, the one in 
Christiania being a replica. Adolf Tidemand stands, 
with Hans Gude, at the head of Scandinavian artists. 
He was born in 1814, in the town of Mandal, in south- 
ern Norway, where his father was a custom-house offi- 
cer. He was educated at Copenhagen and Diisseldorf, 
where he studied under Hildebrandt and Wilhelm 
Schadow; afterwards went to Munich,' and then stud- 
ied in Italy. His taste was, at first, for historical 
painting; but after revisiting his native land, in 1845, 
he adopted Norwegian Peasant life as the subject of 
his pictures. We saw, next day, at the little villa of 



A WEEK IN CHRISTIANIA. 



53 



Oscar's Hall (on the peninsula of Ladegaardsoe, acces- 
sible by carriage or boat from Christiania), a charming- 
series of paintings by Tidemand, illustrating "Norwe- 
gian Peasant life, from the cradle to the grave," which 
won for the artist, from King Oscar, the order of St. 
Olaf. We took a boat, and were rowed across the 
fjord, and landed at the foot of a green slope, at the 
summit of which stood the white marble Gothic bijou 
of a royal villa. Under an archway we were met by 
the keeper in charge, a respectable young woman, who 
took the tickets furnished us by our hotel porter, and, 
unlocking a door to the left, introduced us into the din- 
ing-hall, the sides of which are lined with Tidemand's 
paintings. With the exception of a large central pic- 
ture on each side, they are circular in form, and per- 
haps four feet in diameter. The first scene is an up- 
land pasture; the cows and goats grazing, and smoke 
rising from the chimney of the little saeter hut. In 
the foreground are two children; a boy standing by a 
rock and playing the " loor," — a long horn, to call the 
cattle home, — and a little girl, sitting on the grass at 
his feet, in the peasant costume of homespun skirt and 
white waist and sleeves, with bright bodice, and her 
head tied up in a kerchief, while her hands are busy 
with the everlasting knitting work. The next picture 
takes us inside the hut; youth and maiden sit in the 
chimney corner, a great pot is boiling on the hearth, 
and the wooden tubs for milk are piled on the bench. 
He is sedate and earnest, she bashful and smiling, 
while her nervous fingers plait the edge of her white 
apron; and so, in the Norsk saeter, the old, old story 
is told. 

Then comes the wedding procession, returning from 



54 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



church; the proud bridegroom and the sweet-faced 
bride in her gay crown, followed by father and mother 
and a tribe of young men and maidens; the musicians 
are waiting, and the master of ceremonies, with a 
sweeping bow, his hat in one hand and a great tank- 
ard in the other, welcomes them to the marriage feast. 

Next we see the young couple in their simple home, 
and a bright-faced baby plays with its father's pipe, 
while the curious cradle, like a kneading trough in 
shape, hangs by ropes from the ceiling. The next 
picture shows the first sorrow. The child lies ill in 
its little bed, under the dim light of a hanging lamp, 
and father and mother watch in anxious suspense. 
Two more circular pictures follow; the mother with 
her girls, one of whom is knitting behind her chair, 
while another sits on a low stool before her — reciting 
her catechism? There is a baby on her knee, (a Norsk 
mother has always a baby on her knee). The father, 
with his boy, is instructing the youth in the mysteries 
of net making or mending; while, in the distance, the 
high mountains rise above the blue waters of the fjord, 
and the boat's keel touches the shore. 

A large painting represents fishing by night, and a 
fine contrast of effects is produced by the moonlight on 
the pine-trees and the still surface of the water, and 
the red glow of the torch which the youth holds out 
over the bow while he leans forward to spear the sal- 
mon-trout. The whole family are on board; the mother 
with an oar in the stern. The landscape in this paint- 
ing is the work of Hans Gude, who assisted also in the 
companion picture of the marriage procession. 

Next we have the eldest son leaving home — per- 
haps for America — bundle and staff in hand. The 



A WEEK IN CHRIS TIANIA . 



55 



mother weeps, while the father grasps his boy's hand, 
and utters farewell words of cheer and counsel. Last 
of all, the two old people sit alone together; the brood 
all scattered. She has her teapot on the deal table be- 
side her, and he a tankard, near at hand, on the cor- 
ner of the dresser; but both find better comfort, let us 
hope, in the old book from which he is reading. There 
is no funeral scene, for this is a king's dining-hall, and 
though "we are almost all mortal," it would not be in 
good taste to remind his majesty of the fact. On a 
higher level are fine paintings of Norwegian scenery, 
snowy mountains, green forest depths of shade, and 
dark waters shut in by rocky precipices. 

Crossing the arched passage, we enter the other 
part of the villa, and climb from floor to floor, by the 
winding stairway in the tower, till we stand on the 
roof, and enjoy the lovely view. 'Tis a pretty little 
baby house of a palace, simply furnished, but adorned 
with fine paintings and curious carvings; and no doubt 
King Oscar* prefers it, during his rare visits to Chris- 
tiania, to the great "new palace" at the head of Carl 
Johan's gade, which, in its splendors of white paint, is 
more like a country hotel or a great boarding-school 
house than a palace, and in its interior furnishing is the 
simplest of all abodes of royalty. We were admitted 
one afternoon, and found a regular spring cleaning in 
progress — carpets rolled up and furniture covered, while 
the floors were being scrubbed and waxed. 

We were conducted to the roof, where we obtained 
the fine view of the fjord, which was the object of our 
visit to the palace. The gardens were full of nurses 
and children, playing with the swans, and running 
about on the turf, among sweet old-fashioned flowers 



56 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



—lilacs and honeysuckles, pseonies, sweet rockets, yel- 
low lilies and syringas — which took us back, straight- 
way, to the old-fashioned garden where we played in 
childhood. 

That afternoon we drove to the Egberg; the road 
winding around or crossing by drawbridges the deep 
indentations of the fjord, and leading us finally to a 
breezy hill, from whose summit we enjoyed the familiar 
prospect, only changed a little as seen from a different 
standpoint. 

The road led us through the suburb of Osloe. A 
few ruins remain of the ancient city, which was de- 
stroyed by fire in 1624. Soon after, Christian IV., 
having visited Norway to inspect the newly-discovered 
silver mines at Kongsberg, founded a new city and 
called it after himself, Christiania. 

Osloe, called Opslo in the old Chronicles, was 
founded in 1058, by Harold Hardrada, and in one 
hundred and fifty years it was the third city in the 
kingdom, after Nidaros and Bergen. After the union 
of Norway and Denmark, it became the capital of Nor- 
way. Christopher III. and Christian II. were crowned 
here, and in the cathedral of St. Halvard (destroyed 
by fire with the city), James VI. of Scotland and I. 
of England was married to Anne of Denmark, sister 
of Christian IV., in 1589. 

Next day we started for a walk, but picked up a 
carriage in the market-place, and took the land jour- 
ney to Ladegaardsoe and Oscar's Hall. The park is 
yery pretty, and is a great place of resort; one can go 
to it by rail from Christiania, as it is the first station 
on the route to Drammen. 

, A wonderful thing happened toward the last of the 



A WEEK IN CHRIS TIA NIA . 



57 



week; Blossom and I changed our room. We were 
dissatisfied from the first with our close quarters, the 
narrow room — so nearly filled by the two little beds, 
table, sofa, chairs and stove, that there was scarcely 
space left to turn — and had wished also for one on a 
lower floor; but for some reason, impossible to discover, 
there was great difficulty in making the change. The 
handsome porter assured us that the rooms were full. 
" Where were the people, then ? " we inquired. " Our 
party comprised the only ladies and half the number 
of people present at table d'hote." We did not know, 
then, that there was a restaurant on the ground floor, 
where one might breakfast or dine on cheaper terms 
than in the grand dining-hall; but probably the porter 
did not care to have us know. 

He took a different tack. The rooms were reserved; 
there were many guests expected the next week for a 
great fair which was to take place. But we were going 
away next week, before the fair; let us have good 
rooms meanwhile. No use. 

Finally, we noticed the maid clearing out the large 
corner room next Miss M.'s. It was over the coffee 
room, two floors higher, with the corner cut off, mak- 
ing it an irregular pentagon, with three windows; large, 
bright, and prettily furnished. Down to the porter wc 
went; here was a vacant room; let us change at once. 
He could not pretend that it was reserved. 

" But it will cost you more," he said. 

Was there such an appearance of abject poverty 
about us, with our meagre luggage, and our travelling 
costumes designed more for use than beauty? Or was 
it an unjustifiable attempt to screw a higher price out 
of ignorant tourists ? 



58 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



But we inquired the price, and made no objections; 
the room was worth the difference. 

We took possession, and, after a long time, secured 
the transfer of our goods. The house was in confusion 
all that day; dinner served in a curious fashion, dishes 
appearing at the door and sent back by the head waiter, 
or passed partly down the table before being detected 
and despatched. We found there was to be a club 
supper in the evening, which explained much. 

Returning late from our drive, we took refuge in the 
new room, and had our tea and bread and butter 
brought up by the friendly maid, who never missed an 
opportunity of teaching us a word of Norsk, and ex- 
pressed strong desires to go to America, if only she 
could " talar Engelsk." 

When bedtime came, our three large windows were 
rather too much of a good thing. No outside blinds 
or inside shutters were there; only awnings and white- 
holland shades. And the awnings had away of shoot- 
ing up unexpectedly, letting the sunlight stream in, 
and baffling all our endeavors to reduce them to sub- 
jection. A peal at the bell brought up " Miss Hop- 
kins," flushed with excitement. Did I tell you about 
this English-speaking waiter — not the head waiter, but 
next to the head — short and plump, with blue eyes, 
closely-curling hair, and the most lovely complexion; 
who struck us with such astonishment at first sight, 
being the living image of a young lady friend at home, 
that we christened him " Polly Hopkins" on the spot ? 
He was our main reliance, having a tolerable knowl- 
edge of English, and being a good-natured fellow. 

We took our breakfasts in the dining-hall, or coffee- 
room (if we did not object to smoke), and were waited 



A WEEK IN CHRISTIANIA. 



59 



on by a youth who could not "talar Engelsk" any bet- 
ter than the chambermaid; made our selections from a 
Norsk bill of fare, and paid for them on the spot. 
Table d'hote dinner, at 2 P. M., being at a regular 
price, was charged in the bill. All the next day, after 
the club supper, the house was " on its head," as they 
say in Missouri, to express an utterly topsy-turvy con- 
dition. " Without its head," would describe the state 
of affairs more accurately; for the head waiter was in- 
visible, sleeping off his fatigue; while poor "Miss Hop- 
kins " and the boy did their best to keep awake and 
take care of us. 

I had sought vainly in the book shops for a grammar 
of the Norsk language, but brother Will finally found 
one at Mr. Bennett's, and he brought us also a guide 
to Christiania, of native production, which might have 
been useful if we had seen it earlier, but was extremely 
amusing at any time. The author, F. A. Blix, has 
had long experience as a courier and is still open to 
engagements in that capacity. His "purpose is based 
upon, that the traveller may easy be known with the 
principal circonstances and furthermore get to know 
what here is worth seeing; then next to be able to 
undertake agreeable trips around the city, and in this 
way any short trips for a few days about which there 
hitherto not has been any information." 

As I have neglected to describe the city of Chris- 
tiania, let me quote a few paragraphs from Mr. Blix. 

"Christiania, the capital of the kingdom, and cathe- 
dral city in the bishoprick of Christiania, is situated 
in an extremely fine, open valley at the North end 
of Christiania fjorden (Frith of Christiania). Chris- 
tiania, founded 1624, by King Christian the 4th is as 



6o 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



for the proper city built very regular and fine. The 
city has since 1814 been rapidly growing, and in the 
late time a great many new and pretty buildings pri- 
vate as public are built. Among these the king's 
palace, the parliament-building and the university in 
the west end of the city are worth remarking, and a 
great many great buildings for private gentlemen be- 
tween these and the older part of the city. Christiania 
has eight churches: Our Saviour's Church, where or- 
dination of the priests and other ecclesiastical cere- 
monies are to be undertaken, Trefoldigheds-Church, 
Gronlands-Church, Oslo-Church, and so we must 
nominate the old Akers-Church, for the boundary 
of the city are now extended to it, St. Olafs-Church 
(Catholic) and a church for the Hernhutes; a quart 
mile from Christiania is two new churches, which can 
be seen from every point in the city, for they are 
situated upon a hill; they are named East and West 
Akers-Church, and to every of them is a chapel or 
smaller church belonging. One or two new churches 
too are to be built, which is highly necessary, for the 
many of the inhabitants is growing year for year. The 
English church or chapel has its seat in the university's 
festivity hall, where divine service for the most is kept 
every holy day, at 11 o'clock forenoon. The service is 
made of the here established English preacher." 

So much for matters ecclesiastical. We wished to 
see the interior of some of these churches, but they 
were open only on Sunday, and service was so early 
that poor creatures who had been kept awake by 
broad daylight staring in at three windows, until past 
one o'clock, were far too lazy to attempt going. We 
found our way to the university at eleven o'clock, and 



A WEEK IN CHRIS TIANIA. 



6i 



were wandering about the halls and passages, seeking 
vainly for the " festivity hall," when Mr. Bennett ap- 
peared, to our relief, and conducted us thither, remark- 
ing: "You would have found directions on the first 
page of my guide-book." (He forgot that we had been 
waiting for the latest edition of his books, and received 
them only the evening before.) The English clergy- 
man officiated, the last time for the season, as he was 
about returning to England, and Mr. Bennett himself 
acted as clerk. The audience was small, composed 
mainly of English tourists, with a few residents of 
Christiania. 

To return to Mr. Blix. After enumerating the 
"churchs," he proceeds to the "scools." Besides a 
great " poor-scool," he mentions "the military high- 
scool, the military academy, the cathedral scool, a 
civil- scool, twelve common scools, several etablish- 
ments for information destinated for boys and girls, 
together with any others etablishments founded for 
more specially use, among which the Academy of 
Science, together with a national-gallery. Of other 
public etablishments into and at the city, you have 
Rigshospitalet, the madhouse at the Manor-Ganstad 
in West Aker, Bodsfaengslet (the solitary prison), 
between Gronland and Oslo, etc. Further is the city 
seat for several societies for sciences and liberal arts, 
f. ex. the Royal Society for 'Norgesvel,' the Bible So- 
ciety, the physiographical union," etc. We regretted 
that our limited time prevented our examining these 
various educational "etablishments." "At Christiania 
and its nearest environs is a not quite inconsidera- 
ble manufactory business. Along Akerselven to a 
quarter of a mile from the city is a great many various 



6 2 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



manufactories upon the countries ground, but belong- 
ing to the inhabitants of Christiania. Among these 
we have four cotton fabrics, two weavings, two me- 
chanic workhouses [does he mean machine shops ?] 
paper-mills, oil-mills, soap-boiling houses, a fabric for 
pack of cards, a stone draw, several saw-mills, corn- 
mills, brick-kilns, etc. Into and at the city it is set- 
a-going several important destilleries, six breweries, 
tobacco-fabrics, rope-yards, etc. At the manor Ljan, 
a Norwegian mile from Christiania, is a powder-mill, 
and another at Oslo. In Christiania are twenty im- 
primeries and a great many lithographies. The export 
of Christiania, which especially consists in timber and 
wood, iron, glass - articles, oats, and Ansiovis, etc., 
though is not of such importance as that of many 
other places in Norway, but in return the city stands 
highest among the Norwegian towns with respect to 
the import from foreign countries. For not only con- 
sumes Christiania as the greatest and most important 
town in the kingdom a great deal necessary and luxury 
articles from foreign countries, but it furnishes its con- 
siderable environ places and the many smaller towns 
which are situated on both sides of the Christiania 
fjord. A very lively coasting exists, therefore with 
these 

"Akershus citadel is situated upon a rocky point, 
running out between Bjorvigen and Pipervigen. Akers- 
hus is a depot-place for the Norwegian army, and sur- 
rounds with its walls the old castle with its garrisons 
church and the archives of the empire, and the royal- 
regals, a collection of weapons and a prisoner building. 

"Christiania has several not inconsiderable grounds 
outside the city, divided in parcels, which for tribute to 



A WEEK IN CHRIS TIA NIA . 



63 



the city-bank are used of the city's inhabitants 

Of the about 70,000 inhabitants, which Christiania with 
its suburbs has, is about ^ natives Norway-men. The 
rest is strangers, for the greatest deal Germans and 
Englishmen. There is also a deal Jews, of which the 
most part are merchants." 

After this general introduction, Mr. Blix takes up 
in detail the objects of special interest, telling situation, 
times and ways of visiting public buildings, etc. For 
instance, the " Norwegian parlaments building is situ- 
ated at left in the upper end of Carl Johans street. It 
is very pretty, and built in the latest style. This is 
also to be seen by addressing to the porter who lives 
in the cellar. This man is also very serviceable, but 
expects a little remembering of the stranger." The 
national gallery "is worth to see"; but "here also it 
would be of use for the stranger to have a guide, who 
understood the language and could explain every- 
thing he saw. The gallery is customary open every 
Thursday and Sunday at 12-2 o'clock, and free passage 
for everybody. From this place goes every day the 
military music corps at I2j£ o'clock, passing through 
several streets to the citadel, where it is engaged to 
2 o'clock. Thereupon the parade marches off." And 
I think you may march off also, Mr. Blix. We have 
had enough of you for the present. 

The "Hero" was expected on Monday, any time 
after 7 A. M. Will rose early and went to the land- 
ing, but came back to breakfast, with no news of the 
steamer. We engaged the best room vacant on our 
floor, since for inscrutable reasons nothing lower down 
could be had, and spent the day in attempts at shop- 
ping and visits to the wharf. 



64 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



Finally, when we heard about 6 P. M. that the 
" Hero" was in sight, they got out the hotel omnibus 
and we drove down in state. It was new, and ele- 
gantly upholstered in dark-green velvet, but close 
and stuffy, and somehow reminded us of a hearse; 
not that we ever rode in one. 

Slowly up the fjord came the great, clumsy, green 
hull. When we could make out faces, we saw our 
friends standing on the deck, unchanged since we 
left them on the North River pier, looking after our 
departing steamer. We had no idea then of meeting 
them next in Norway. 

The "Hero" had been detained, it appeared, at 
Christiansand, landing her cargo, which consisted of 
another steamer in pieces — a small one for service 
along the coast or up the fjords. 

We spent the next day in making final arrange- 
ments with Mr. Bennett, who telegraphed, as he had 
promised, for state-rooms on the steamer leaving 
Throndhjem a fortnight later. Our delay in Chris- 
tiania lost us the company of our friends, Mr. and 
Mrs. S., whom we did not meet again in Norway. 
Mr. Bennett wrote the telegram and threw it on the 
floor, " to remember it," he said. Whether he did 
or not, we never knew; but we fared precisely as 
well in the matter of state-rooms as if it had remained 
there. Then we did a little more shopping, getting 
warm lamb's-wool shawls, of native manufacture, and 
Miss M. invested in a heavy Mackintosh, which Mr. 
Bennett promised to take back at half price on our 
return. And, waiting till 6 P. M. for the sun to lose 
its burning heat, we took a farewell drive to the 
Mariedal Lake. 



V. 



POSTING— UP THE GUDBRANDSDAL. 
E rose early on the morning of Wednesday, June 



* " 23, and took the train at 8.25 for Eidsvold, 
three hours to the northward. Mr. Bennett met us at 
the station, with parting words of advice and encour- 
agement, having superintended the packing of our 
"trille" and "gig." The cars were, comfortable, di- 
vided into compartments, after the English or Con- 
tinental fashion, and seating three people on each side, 
as the road is of rather narrow gauge. Between two 
compartments, above the seats, was a water tank, con- 
taining a great block of ice, visible through the glass 
sides, and delightful to contemplate. 

At Eidsvold we changed to a little steamer on the 
Mjosen Lake, the " Kong Oscar." The trip by rail 
was a short one; only six miles Norsk, forty-two Eng- 
lish. In combination with an excursion on the lake, 
it is especially recommended by our friend, F. A. Blix, 
"as the most agreeable manner to consume the time, 
on spectating the many exchanges and beautiful scenes 
of Nature." " You pass the stations Bryn, Snorud, 
Strommen, Lilestrommen, Lersund, Frogner, Kloften, 
Trygstad and Dahl, and arrive to Eidsvold at 1 1 o'clock 
forenoon. At more of these stations it is time and 
opportunity to step out for refreshments." 

The block of ice in our water tank sufficed for us 




65 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



during this short journey; but the Norwegians are 
thirsty souls, as we had occasion to remark, after- 
wards, on the steamers. We are indebted to Blix 
for two more items: 

"On the manor at Eidsvold ironwork was the par- 
liament 1814, which gave Norway its constitution. 
The manor is bought by subscription, for raising a 
national monument." 

" At Eidsvoldsbakken, which is supposed to have 
been the old former Eidsiviathing, you will find a min- 
eral medicinal-spring, which is tolerably visited." 

We did not tarry at the spring, for there was wait- 
ing at Eidsvoldsbriggen (which ought to be bridge, but 
means quay) "a fine steamboat, ready for going ahead 
immediately after the trains arrival;" though it took 
longer to embark the trilles and gigs and carioles 
than the passengers. We found comfortable places on 
deck, and enjoyed the pretty scenery through the day, 
interrupted only by dinner, which was served at 2 P. M. in 
the tiny cabin. It consisted of excellent salmon-trout, 
boiled potatoes, roast veal with compote (stewed cur- 
rants or cherries) and some kind of pudding or pastry. 
Bordeaux wine, beer or " oel" (pronounced exactly 
like "ale") and " Brus-limonade " were the potables 
procurable here, as on all Norway steamboats. We 
were served by " smokke piger" (we used to pronounce 
it " smoky piggy" and on asking a friend what he sup- 
posed it meant, innocently answered, "bacon"), tall, 
fair damsels of great sobriety and solidity. The cabin 
was well filled with first-class passengers; but most 
of those on the crowded boat were peasants, return- 
ing to their homes along the shores of the lake. We 
watched them landing at the different stations, in large 



PO STING- 



UP THE G UDBRANDSDAL. 



67 



rowboats, loaded to the water's edge. I counted fifty 
in one boat. There were no picturesque costumes here, 
such as we saw afterwards in the vicinity of Bergen and 
the Hardanger Fjord; but the women wore handker- 
chiefs tied over the head, in place of hats, as they do 
everywhere in Norway. The captain found time to go 
around and make acquaintance with his passengers, 
and was much interested upon learning that we were 
Americans. He took from his pocket a card photo- 
graph of Paul du Chaillu, with his autograph, and 
showed it to us, with the question if we knew him, 
and finally amused us by selecting Miss M. for the 
honor of an exchange of cards. Later, he invited us 
all to posts of observation on the bridge. 

The Mjosen is the largest of the Norway lakes, 
about sixty miles in length by twenty in width. 
(I mean English miles; when I allude to Norsk 
miles I shall call them so.) The lower part of the 
lake is narrow, and so is the upper; but about mid- 
way it broadens out into a fine expanse, and here, 
on the eastern side, is situated the little town of 
Hamar, of about two thousand inhabitants; the resi- 
dence of a bishop, and of the amtmann, or magis- 
trate of the district of Hedemark. Here stood, five 
hundred years ago, the great city of Storhammer, 
which, according to Norsk chroniclers, extended over 
three miles in length, and contained a magnificent 
cathedral, the residence of the bishop, and the king's 
palace, which was large enough to accommodate over 
a thousand persons. There were, besides, several 
churches, monasteries and nunneries. In 1348 the 
city was ravaged by the Black Death (sorte dod), 
from which time it began to decline, and in 1566 it 



63 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



was set on fire by an army of Swedes, and totally 
destroyed. Several columns of the cathedral are still 
standing.* 

A cathedral and monastery formerly existed in 
Lillehammer, which was built by the English pope, 
Nicholas Breakspeare, then Cardinal Albano and leg- 
ate in Norway, and afterwards Pope Hadrian IV.; but 
they were destroyed during incursions by the Swedes. 

Opposite Hamar, near the middle of the lake, is the 
" Helgeoe," or holy isle, a large and fertile island, 
where the ruins of an abbey or monastery were pointed 
out to us. 

The scenery on both sides was pretty, but nowhere 
grand; meadows or wooded hills sloping to the water's 
edge, and on the eastern shore a range of mountains 

* "The ruins of the ancient cathedral at Hamar, built in the twelfth 
century, are visible from the lake. All that now remains of it are three 
massive pillars and the arches that connect them; and one may judge of the 
scale on which it was built from the fact that the outstretched arms of three 
men can scarcely clasp them round. It is almost needless to say that so 
utter and complete a disappearance is not so much owing to the ravages of 
time as to the vandalism of the last three centuries; for even in the seven- 
teenth, though in a ruinous condition, it was complete in all its details. 
The glorious west front, with its richly carved portals, was yet intact, 
together with a multitude of chapels and flying buttresses. But, instead of 
any attempt being made to preserve the grand old pile from decay, it seems 
to have been looked upon as a sort of 'happy hunting ground,' where any 
one who had building on hand could procure an unlimited supply of stone, 
hewn and ready for his use. Several churches in the neighborhood were 
in this way erected; and as they rose, so Hamar fell, and was only saved 
from utter destruction by the advent of a less iconoclastic age. 

"It is the lament of Norwegian writers that a similar fate has befallen 
the majority of their ancient ecclesiastical buildings; hardly a stone now 
remaining upon a stone to show where, in Catholic days, the voice of praise 
resounded from many a fair abbey, the site of which is now grass-grown 
and forgotten." — Shepard, Over the Dovrefjeld. 



POSTING— UP THE GUDBRANDSDAL. 69 



over two thousand feet in height. The Mjosen Lake 
was formerly renowned for its fishing; but a great in- 
undation in 1789 quite destroyed it, for a long time. 
A particular kind of salmon-trout, found only here 
and in the lower part of the river Laagen — the Hun- 
nerorreten — is well known to travellers and epicures 
and regularly served on the steamers. We ate them 
without knowing it, and took them for particularly 
nice salmon. 

Among the legends of the Mjosen Lake is that of a 
monster existing in its depths, which is believed in to 
the present day. Peter Clausen, writing in the six- 
teenth century, describes it as "an old snake or ser- 
pent, fifty ells long, that only sheweth itself when any 
wonderful event is about to take place in the kingdom." 

Nicholas Granicus, pastor at Londen, in Norway, 
in 1656, is responsible for an account of this monster, 
in his migration from the Mjosen to the Spirillen Lake. 
His head was like a hogshead, and his body as big as 
a tun, and the length of three fir-trees, " like a mighty 
mast," and trees were crushed to the earth by his 
passage. 

Of the sudden storms which sometimes arise in this 
lake, Peter Clausen observes, " It is a perilous and 
unlucky lake, and taketh away the lives of many folk, 
being gloomy and terrible to see, and far more dan- 
gerous to sail upon than the salt sea itself, for the 
fierce Huirel winds and the mountain blasts sweep 
down upon it, and fresh water becometh stormy much 
more quickly than salt." 

Like the Sea of Galilee, which to this day a sudden 
gust of wind lashes into fury, as it did eighteen hun- 
dred years ago, the Mjosen lake has not lost its re- 



7o 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



putation for danger to the unwary voyager. One 
lands from the steamer in rowboats, except at the 
terminal stations of Eidsvold and Lillehammer, and a 
case is mentioned where a party were tossed about in 
their boat for more than four hours, at the imminent 
risk of being dashed to pieces on the rocky shore. 

We had noticed several officers in military uniform 
on board, and were informed by the captain that the 
young volunteer militia were about to go into camp 
for summer training, at some place near the lake. 
This accounted in part for the crowd on our steam- 
boat. 

We reached Lillehammer, at the northern extrem- 
ity of the lake, about 8 P. M., and found wagons wait- 
ing to draw us up the steep hill to the village. The 
gentlemen found their personal superintendence re- 
quisite to secure the landing of the carriages and 
their transfer to the hotel, where they were finally 
deposited in the stable yard, ready for our start next 
morning. Meanwhile we ladies were occupied in se- 
lecting rooms, or rather in making the best of those 
assigned us. These were a series of four, opening into 
each other, but not into the passage, except at each 
end. The house with its appendages, stables, barns, 
etc.", surrounded a court, through which we entered, 
and which was adorned with a variety of vehicles, 
like the yard at Mr. Bennett's. We had supper in a 
long room, with a long table spread with a greater 
variety of viands than I ever saw at once — cold beef, 
cold ham, tongue, fried steaks, ham and eggs, trout 
swimming in fat, wheat bread, rye bread, "flad brod" 
(our first introduction to the national staff of life, 
made of oatmeal, and baked in sheets of wafer thin- 



POSTING— UP THE GUDBRANDSDAL. 71 



ness, which are broken up into irregular pieces — very 
good when new and crisp, but detestable when old 
and musty), English biscuits, and cheese in great 
variety; " ny ost " (new cheese) and "gammel ost" 
(old cheese), and a kind peculiar to Norway, in square 
blocks, tied about with a bright ribbon or embroi- 
dered band, and looking like a cross between brown 
Windsor soap and maple sugar. It had a sweetish 
taste and a soapy taste, or we imagined so, and we 
never became fond of it. I am sure we had some 
sort of canned game, and the inevitable boiled eggs 
"under the old hen," of a Norway table. These pretty 
china dishes we found, even north of the arctic circle. 

We were tired, after sitting up all day on hard 
benches, and so went stupidly to bed; quite forgetting 
that this was Midsummer, or St. John's Eve, when the 
people build bonfires and dance around them, perpetu- 
ating vestiges of the old pagan rites, in honor of Bal- 
der, son of Freya, the most beautiful character in the 
Scandinavian mythology, familiar to many through 
Matthew Arnold's poem, "The Death of Balder." 

The pyre on which his body was burned is the pro- 
totype of the ancient festival, and of the fires which 
burn not only on these Northern hills, but in Scotland 
and Ireland. Many superstitions in these countries 
may be traced to a Scandinavian origin, or perhaps go 
farther back, to the common origin of all these Indo- 
European races. 

Thursday, June 24, we made our first essay in post- 
ing. We rose in good season, took breakfast, which 
was a repetition of supper, and then waited and waited, 
for no explained reason, till it pleased the presiding 
genius of the stables to furnish us with horses. It 



72 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



does no sort of good to try to hurry people in Nor- 
way, and to worry at delay only makes yourself miser- 
able. Finally we were off, about 10 A. M., with our 
luggage compactly arranged under the seats and 
a "skydsgut" on the step of the gig. The word is 
pronounced "schuss-goot," and the individual is a post- 
boy, of age varying from six years to forty. He goes 
from one station to another (from seven to ten miles 
distance) to bring back the horses, which are rarely 
allowed to be driven both ways by travellers. He will 
drive, if you wish, but people generally prefer to drive 
themselves; and our "skyds," as we called them, were 
usually little fellows who curled up in the back of 
John's gig, and went to sleep, or, if more actively dis- 
posed, perched on the step attached, for their conveni- 
ence, to the back of the vehicle. Sometimes we had 
a full-grown man, who felt too big, or thought himself 
too heavy, for such a position, and insisted upon a 
seat in our trille, greatly to our inconvenience. The 
wagon was called a "trille," because intended to ac- 
commodate three persons, beside the postboy. For 
the fourth, there was a slight extra charge; but for 
three people with two horses the expense of posting is 
the same as for two. The charges average about two 
marks (equal to two shillings English, or fifty cents 
American currency), the Norsk mile, for each horse; 
for two people with one horse, a slight extra charge is 
made. You give the skydsgut four or five skillings — 
copper coins about the value of a cent or half-penny — 
and when he takes the money, he always puts out a 
dirty paw and insists upon shaking hands — the inevi- 
table Norsk fashion of closing a bargain or expressing 
thanks. Perhaps he says: "Mange dak!" which an- 



POSTING— UP THE GUDBRANDSDAL. 



73 



swers to the English: " Thanks, very much." One 
skyd sufficed for our two carriages, and sometimes we 
were sent off without any, because all the available 
boys had been despatched with other parties. In such 
a case the gig was discovered to be extremely uncom- 
fortable, dancing up and down in a way to earn for it- 
self the title of "giggle," which adhered to it through 
the journey; and John would borrow one of our bags, 
or pick up a big stone by the roadside, to balance the 
body of the concern over its two wheels — a proceed- 
ing which excited great indignation at the stations. 

We were on the regular mail route from Christiania 
to Throndhjem. (The pronunciation is " Tronyem." 
Mr. Bennett spells it " Throndhjem," and the Germans 
always spell and pronounce it " Drontheim," as we 
used to when we studied Mitchell's Geography at 
school.) 

It passes through what is called the Gudbrandsdal, 
a valley through which runs the river Laagen, which 
rises up in the hills, near a place which we reached 
a few days later, and flows into the Mjosen Lake, 
at Lillehammer. So we had its company all the 
way, and looked down upon the pretty stream, wind- 
ing through green meadows, with wooded hills, or 
blue mountains farther away, rising up beyond. The 
first station beyond Lillehammer is Fossegaarden — 
"Foss" falls, and "gaard" farmstead; as we should 
say, the Falls farm. " Gaard," meaning first a fence 
or enclosure, came to be applied to the whole number 
of buildings about a central court, which constitutes 
a Norwegian country house. The word is of the same 
derivation as the English garden, and the verb to 
gird, the German garten, Sclavonian grad, Persian 
4 



74 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



gerd, meaning both circle and castle; and comes, 
probably, straight from the Scythian or Aryan dialect 
of the early conquerors, Asgard being the home of 
the Aser, or lords. It is astonishing how often one 
is taken back to Odin, in Scandinavia. 

The falls were very picturesque, and we walked 
down the river to look at them while the skyd took 
the horses up to the station-house, at the top of a 
steep hill, and in the course of half or three-quarters 
of an hour brought down fresh ones. One of the 
gentlemen went up to write in the Dagbog (day 
book), where it is necessary to enter the name or 
names of the party, number of horses taken from 
previous station, and price paid, with any complaints 
of extortion or neglect one has occasion to make. 
Of course, the latter must be entered in Norsk, if 
they are intended to answer any purpose other than 
a relief to one's own feelings or a warning to fellow 
travellers. An inspector of stations goes over the 
route occasionally, and is supposed to attend to such 
complaints. But I fancy that they arise generally 
from misunderstandings, and that the station masters, 
if civilly treated, are ready to do their best for trav- 
ellers. Courtesy always pays, and nowhere better 
than in Norway; the simple phrases, " Vaer saa god?" 
(Will you be so good ? or Please,) and " Vil de gjore 
mig den tjeneste ? " (Will you do me the kindness ?) 
are like an oiled feather in a rusty lock, and should be 
among the first learned by the traveller. 

We employed our little leisure time in diligent 
study of Bennett's "Phrase-Book"; and, to save time 
by division of labor, the talk about horses and money 
was assigned to the gentlemen, while we ladies de- 



POSTING— UP THE GUDBRANDSDAL. 



75 



voted ourselves to the phrases inquiring for rooms and 
beds, and the interesting subject of breakfast, dinner, 
and supper. We made our first attempt at the next 
station, Holmen. This was about twenty miles from 
Lillehammer, and recommended by Bennett as " clean," 
and by the German guide as "recht gutes quartier"; 
and as it was quite the middle and heat of the day, 
it seemed a good place to stop for lunch. The sta- 
tion was a small, unpainted frame building, and the 
guest-room was up a steep flight of stairs, and very 
bare and dreary; but the good woman in charge gave 
us a nice lunch of cold meat, bread and butter, eggs, 
milk and cheese, with "kavringer" or zwieback; and 
while we waited for this and for our fresh horses, we 
enjoyed through the window a little picture of moun- 
tains, woods and river, so lovely that I longed to 
sketch it. Any one who can sketch rapidly should 
have colors and sketch book, or block, constantly in 
reach; for there are often pretty bits of scenery near 
the stations; though if you are travelling with a party 
you can hardly stop on the road. Another requisite, 
which we failed to carry, is a little press for flowers; 
two boards, with a strap, and plenty of soft paper, such 
as one buys everywhere in Switzerland. We had only 
our guide-books out of the bags, and the flowers we 
tried to save in them were constantly losing out or 
getting injured by tumbling about, to say nothing of 
the difficulty we experienced in pressing them at all, 
when it had to be done in a surreptitious manner, 
under constant protest from our brethren. 

At the next station,* Kirkestuen, we stopped merely 

* Let it not be supposed that these stations are villages; they are merely 
farmhouses or "gaards." 



7 6 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



to change horses, and were not kept long waiting. 
Between Holmen and this station, perhaps ten miles, 
the river widens into a lake, and the scenery is lovely. 
We were delighted, and wondered at Mr. Bennett for 
pronouncing the scenery only "pretty, but not fine"; 
but the grander features of the landscape, as we went 
farther up the Gudbrandsdal, showed us what "fine" 
scenery was, in his opinion. Near Holmen one gets 
the first glimpse of snowy mountains, rising to the 
eastward — the Rondane, 6,500 feet high. 

At Skjaeggestad, the next station, there was a 
comfortable frame house, painted white; and, going in 
to rest while the horses were changed we found a 
nice old woman knitting by the fire, in a New England 
rocking-chair. She had a pet cat, and a great black 
dog who was not disposed to be friendly with stran- 
gers, though she tried to make him eat lumps of sugar 
from our hands. The room was adorned with photo- 
graphs of family friends stuck about the walls, ani 
among them she pointed out one of Paul du Chaillu, 
asking if we knew him. We had not the pleasure of his 
personal acquaintance, and we tried to explain that 
we knew him by reputation, but our limited Norsk 
prevented a thorough understanding. I am afraid the 
old woman thought we were intimate friends. We were 
tempted to stop over a day at this station, and make 
the excursion to the saeter on the Klinkenberg, a 
mountain three thousand feet high, affording a wide 
prospect. An old wooden church at Ringebu is an 
object of interest; and there is also a picturesque view 
at Vaaler Bro, about a mile from the station. Saddle 
horses for this excursion can be obtained here. 

It was about 6 P. M. when we arrived, and if we had 



POSTING — UP THE GUDBRANDSDAL. 



77 



known we were to be detained so long, we should have 
ordered supper at once. But it takes nearly an hour, 
in their leisurely way of doing things, to prepare a hot 
meal, and we had decided to push on to Listad, about 
ten miles farther, where we intended to pass the night. 
They wanted us to stay at Skjaeggestad over a day, if 
we could be persuaded; over night at least; to supper, — 
if we could be wearied and starved into it, — if for noth- 
ing else. They had horses, all the time, but seemed 
reluctant to let us take them; and when they finally 
did so, they insisted upon sending a full-grown man 
with us to drive. We three ladies had to sit together 
on the back seat, which made us crowded and uncom- 
fortable; and although the evening was lovely, and 
the scenery very pretty, we were very glad to get to 
Listad and send back our disobliging charioteer. We 
should have fared better, I am sure, if we had ordered 
supper at Skjaeggestad. There were six of us; and 
we should have paid them, perhaps, a mark apiece for 
an ample meal. 

As it was, our hot supper was very nice; but it 
was not ready before 10 P. M. ; we were in a fam- 
ished condition, having had nothing since our cold 
lunch at Holmen; and we were so weary, after the 
day's ride, that we went to bed directly after, which 
was injudicious, certainly. Regular meals are a mat- 
ter of no little importance to travellers, if they wish 
to preserve good health and good nature; and by a 
little management they may be insured on most of 
the routes in Norway. One should always be pro- 
vided, however, with biscuits and sherry, and some 
sort of potted meat, and dried fruits, prunes or figs. 
There are few stations where one cannot procure 



73 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



plenty of sweet milk, fresh eggs and rye bread and 
butter; though fresh meat is not always to be had. 

The station-house at Listad was finely situated, 
and a house of more pretension than is usual, on this 
route; two stories high, *with balconies over the 
porches, the front one commanding a lovely view 
of the valley and river, the other overlooking the 
farmyard and hills behind. Steep, winding stairs, 
at one side of the central hall, led up to large, pleas- 
ant rooms, with two single beds in each, very clean 
and comfortable. The middle room opened on the 
front balcony, where there were seats, and we waited 
for our supper. We wanted to stay over a day at 
Skjaeggestad, but we would gladly have spent a week 
at Listad. If we had not so heroically started for 
the North Cape, how delightful it would be to take 
it easy and stop whenever we felt inclined ! But all 
six of us were not of the same mind. 

The room down-stairs, where we had our supper, 
was large and pleasant, plainly but neatly furnished, 
with white curtains at the windows and a stand of 
house plants in bloom. We had some sort of wild 
fowl — ptarmigan or "ryper," as they call it here — 
potatoes, boiled eggs, good wheat bread and rusk, 
butter, milk and excellent tea. This surprised us, 
for at Mr. Bennett's suggestion we had brought a 
quantity of tea, expecting to use it constantly. 
(In our whole journey we tried it but once, when 
it was scarcely better than the article furnished at 
the station, and he took back the package on our 
return to Christiania). We got very nice coffee, 
also, in most places, with hot milk, and sweet, rich 
cream. 



rO STING— UP THE GUDBRA NDSDAL. 



79 



We were waited on by one of the pretty daughters 
of the house, who spoke a little English. 

One must go through almost any journey, — the 
long journey of life is no exception, — to know how 
to do it to the best advantage. We look back, even 
now, with longing, to Listad, and Skjaeggestad, and 
Laurgaard, and other places that we saw later, and 
say, "If we could only have stayed longer, and made 
this or that excursion in the neighborhood, or sketched 
that lovely bit of scenery, or kept those exquisite flow- 
ers ! If we ever go to Norway again we will try to do 
it better; go over less ground, perhaps, and see what 
we see more thoroughly, and try to get acquainted 
with the people." 



I add a few words of explanation as to the details 
of posting in Norway. 

On the principal roads all the stations are what is 
called " fast," where the station-master is bound, under 
penalty, to have horses ready for immediate use. The 
number of horses and "reserve" horses at these sta- 
tions is fixed by the " amtmand " (a magistrate of the 
district). No traveller may be detained more than 
fifteen minutes for horses belonging to the station, nor 
more than half an hour for a reserve horse (one brought 
in from work in the fields). For stations not "fast" 
there is a system called " Forbud " — orders which are 
sent on in advance by special messengers, so that 
horses may be held in readiness by a specified time. 
If the traveller does not arrive within an hour of this 
time he must pay for waiting, " vente penge " — the 



8o 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



price of a quarter of a mile posting, and as much more 
for each half-hour's additional delay. Travellers who 
have no "forbud" papers are to be furnished with 
horses within one, two, or three hours, according to 
the distance from which the horses have to be brought. 

" When the traveller allows the postboy to hold the 
reins, the former is not answerable for the horse. On 
the other hand, should any post-horse be ill-treated 
and over-driven, when the traveller holds the reins, so 
that the station-holder or innkeeper and two men at 
the next station can perceive this to be the case, the 
traveller shall pay for the injury according to the esti- 
mate of these men, and he shall not be allowed to be 
sent on until the payment is made; the compensation 
for the injury, however, shall remain with the station- 
holder or innkeeper for six weeks, so that the traveller 
may be able to complain of the affair." 

The masters of stations are obliged to furnish cari- 
oles or spring-carts (" stolkjaerre," a box on wheels, 
with the seat on wooden springs; not to be recom- 
mended to lovers of ease), luggage carts, saddles and 
bridles, and sledges (in winter), with harness usually 
of rope, with reins of the same material. It saves time 
and trouble in the transfer of luggage if one has one's 
own hired cariole, or carriage, for the entire journey, 
though the expense is, of course, greater. We rented 
our " trille " of Mr. Bennett for one specie dollar the 
day, and had to pay for its transport on railway or 
steamers in addition. The extra charge for carioles, 
when furnished at stations with the horses, is six skil- 
lings (cents) the Norway mile, which would not aver- 
age over fifty cents a day, and this only for the days 
when they are in actual use; whereas, you pay for the 



POSTING— UP THE GUDBRANDSDAL. 8 1 



vehicles hired in Christiania from your departure until 
your return, though you may be half the time on 
steamers. 

The laws also regulate the number of horses to be 
attached to different vehicles, the number of people who 
may ride in them, and the amount of luggage allowed. 
For our carriage, with two horses, we were allowed to 
take three grown-up persons and one hundred and fifty 
pounds of baggage (skydsguts do not count). By pay- 
ing a fourth part additional one more person may be 
taken. In a one-horse vehicle with wheels, one grown- 
up person and sixty-four pounds of luggage may be 
taken; in a sledge, ninety-six pounds of luggage. By 
half payment additional, another person may be taken, 
or a child by a quarter payment, and twenty-four or thir- 
ty-six pounds of luggage according to circumstances. 
Some fancied infraction of these laws must have made 
the people so indignant at our stone ballast or our 
transfer of baggage from the trille to the gig; though 
either weighed far less than a stout skyd, to whom 
they would have made no objection. 

4* 



VI. 



LISTAD TO LESJE JERNVAERK. 
E started from Listad on Friday morning, be 



T " tween nine and ten o'clock. There, again, we 
made a mistake, in not getting off earlier; the morn- 
ing hours are so much fresher and cooler for driving. 
Those who are up betimes get the best chance for 
horses; the late risers may be obliged to wait until 
the horses have been to and returned from the next 
station, with the regulation half-hour of rest after- 
wards. People travelling in haste, or yielding to the 
ambition to get quickly over the road, so contagious 
in Norway, allow themselves little time for sleep. 
But there must be a reaction afterwards, and in the 
long run little is gained by burning the candle at both 
ends (a metaphor especially inappropriate in a coun- 
try and season where candles were a thing unthought 
of). Mr. Bennett's book gives directions for the num- 
ber of miles to be travelled, and recommends places 
to dine and sleep at, if one desires to "perform the 
route" from Christiania to Throndhjem in three, four, 
five, six, or seven days. Unless one is in haste to 
catch a steamer, or is limited for time, there is little 
satisfaction in such rapid travelling. I remember an 
Englishman who came into Mr. Bennett's curiosity 
shop one day, boasting of having achieved the jour- 




LIST AD TO LESJE JERNVAERK. 



83 



ney (nearly three-hundred and fifty miles) in about 
seventy hours. He had slept very little or none at 
all, and eaten only such fare as he could pick up while 
changing horses. He travelled in a light cariole, of 
course; and probably had little waiting to do, and was 
fortunate in hitting the steamboat at Lillehammer. 

Oien is the next station beyond Listad, about six 
miles; "good and cheap quarters and friendly people," 
says the German guide. "A first-rate station, where 
wheat bread and several kinds of wine, including cham- 
pagne, may be procured," adds Mr. Bennett. If we had 
been unable to get beds at Listad, we should have slept 
here. Champagne had no temptation for us, so early 
in the day; but the house looked so pleasant, we 
wanted to see the inside of it, and went into the large, 
sunny guest-room to ask for a glass of water. There 
were wonderully fine house plants in bloom, fuchsias, 
pinks, roses and geraniums in pots of glazed earthen- 
ware, which we have supposed to be very unwhole- 
some for plants. We wondered how they survived the 
long, cold, dark winter. Between Listad and Oien, we 
passed the "gaard" Steig, which stands sentinel on a 
lofty peak, like a German castle in the middle ages. 

We found the heat of the sun really oppressive 
through the middle of the day (it troubled us very 
little afterwards, as we got farther north, and higher 
above the sea), and we were glad to stop at Stork- 
levstad to rest for an hour or two, and take dinner. 
This was a nice, clean station, and the people were 
friendly. They gave us a good dinner, of three kinds 
of fish, fried veal, potatoes, stewed cherries and another 
compote, several kinds of bread and excellent beer. 
The "pige" brought in as dessert a plate of sweet 



84 



A SCANDINAVIAN- SUMMER. 



cakes, offering them to each, in turn, with the pleas- 
ant, "Vaer saa god!" It is customary to give a few 
skillings to the "pige," or if the mistress of the house 
waits upon the guest, as is not unusual, one can, with- 
out offence, leave it with her, "for the pige." (We 
have yet to see the country of the Eastern hemisphere 
in which such offerings are offensive.) The charges 
for meals are extremely reasonable, and "service" 
does not appear to be included. The expense of 
meals and lodgings was seldom over a specie dollar 
(about five shillings English), per diem, for each person. 

Not far from this station we passed the monument 
to Colonel Sinclair, leader of the Scotch troops, who 
perished at Kringelen in 1612. Mr. Bennett quotes 
from Laing's "Norway" the following account of the 
event: "During the war between Christian IV. of Den- 
mark and Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden, a body of 
Scotch troops had been raised for the service of Swe- 
den. The Danes were at that time in possession of 
Gottenburg, and from Calmar in the Baltic to the 
North Cape the whole coast was occupied by the sub- 
jects of Christian IV. The Scotch, therefore, decided 
on the bold plan of landing in Norway, and fighting 
their way across the country to Sweden. A portion 
landed at Throndhjem, and the rest, nine hundred 
strong, commanded by Colonel George Sinclair, landed 
in Romsdalen, from whence they marched toward this 
valley, ravaging the country on the way. At Kringe- 
len, an ambush was prepared by about three hundred 
peasants; huge quantities of rocks, stones, and trees 
were collected on the mountain, and so placed that 
all could at once be launched upon the road beneath. 
Everything was done to lull the Scotch into security, 



LISTAD TO LESJE JERNVAERK. 



85 



and with perfect success. When they arrived beneath 
the awful avalanche prepared for them, all was sent 
adrift from above, and the majority of the Scotch were 
crushed to death, or swept into the river and drowned; 
the peasants then rushed down upon the wounded and 
stragglers and despatched them. Of the whole force 
only two of the Scotch are said to have survived. But 
accounts differ on this point, one being that sixty 
prisoners were taken, and afterwards slaughtered in 
cold blood. Mrs. Sinclair is said to have accompa- 
nied her husband on this expedition, and it is added 
that a youth who meant to have joined the peasants 
in the attack was prevented by a young woman, to 
whom he was to be married next day. She, on hear- 
ing that one of her own sex was with the Scotch, sent 
her lover to her protection; Mrs. Sinclair, mistaking 
his object, shot him dead." -> 

The monument is a square slab of rough stone, 
with this inscription: " Her blev Skotternes Anforer 
Georg Sinclair begraven, efterat han var falden ved 
Kringelen, den 26 August, 1612." "Here was buried 
George Sinclair, the leader of the Scotch, after having 
fallen at Kringelen, the 26 of August, 1612." 

As we ride on, we wonder what was the after histo- 
ry of Mrs. Sinclair and the poor young woman whose 
lover she shot. 

Between the next two stations, Bredevangen and 
Moen, we pass through the defile of Kringelen; a small 
monument marks the spot. The hill rises abruptly on 
one side of the road; the river flows beneath. The old 
road, in Sinclair's time, was some three hundred feet 
higher up the hillside than it is at present. 

Moen is described by Bennett as "a small and 



86 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



bad station"; but he adds that the people are civil. 
We got out while changing horses; but the appear- 
ance of the little, unpainted buildings surrounding 
the stable yard was so unattractive that we did not 
venture inside; except where, through an open door, 
we saw a woman engaged .in weaving. She was at 
a rude loom, not unlike those used in New England 
farmhouses for weaving rag carpets, and was making 
the coarse, homespun, woollen material commonly 
worn by the women and children throughout the 
country. It was brown in color, with green or red 
threads crossing at intervals, and she had on a dress 
off the same piece, made in the simplest fashion, with 
a round waist, and scant skirt plaited into the belt. 
An apron of some cotton material, and a kerchief tied 
in a knot under the chin, completed the costume. 
Little girls were dressed exactly like their mothers. 
For Sundays and feast days they doubtless had gala 
dresses — bright-colored bodices and elaborately em- 
broidered aprons, with white shirt-waists and ker- 
chiefs, as one sees in the colored photographs; though 
these people at Moen looked too wretchedly poor to 
possess such finery. They came out to inspect us, 
men, women and children; and held up the baby, ask- 
hg if the "barn" were not " smokke." This was not 
t.ie first time we had noticed a likeness to the Scotch 
language. If you ask, " Is my bed made ?" you say, 
" Er min seng redd opp ? " Have you never heard a 
Scotchwoman talk of " redding up a room ?* 

* Bennett advises a stay of half an hour at Moen, to allow a walk up to 
the mills, on the Ula River. "The geological formation in connection with 
the waterfall is remarkable. The traveller who is anything of a geologist, and 
has time for it, would be well compensated for his trouble by continuing his 



LI ST AD TO LESJE JERNVAERK. 87 



At Laurgaard, six miles farther, we crossed to the 
station-house, on the west side of the river, at the 
foot of a mountain. It was a large, two-story house, 
painted white, and looked not unlike an American 
farmstead. As the guest-room was already occupied 
by travellers, we were ushered into a large upper 
chamber, with three beds, upon which three tired 
ladies reposed until supper was served. This was 
simply tea, boiled eggs, bread and butter, and plenty 
of milk and cream. 

We had supposed that the table at Mme. Orm- 
srud's Hotel, at Lillehammer, was a specimen of what 
we had to expect in the station-houses — a general 
spread of whatever was in the house, on a long table 
ready for all comers, — and we were agreeably disap- 
pointed to find, almost everywhere, as much neatness 
and privacy, and food as excellent of its kind as 
we should have been served with in an old-fashioned 
English inn. The English travellers in Norway have 
indoctrinated the station-keepers with correct ideas 
of comfort. We had, nearly always, a room to our- 
selves, clean linen and china, and usually very good, 
solid silver; and sometimes the door of the cupboard 
stood ajar to display quite a variety of pretty silver 
and china ware. The station -keepers are usually 
"well-to-do" farmers, who keep horses and enter- 
tain travellers, less as a means of making money 
than as an accommodation to the public. 

walk along the river, for about a Norway mile up the valley. The school- 
master, who is a very intelligent man, and speaks English, will act as guide* 
" Duck shooting may be had in the marsh between Moen and Laurgaard, 
the next station. Close by here, at Romundgaard, Colonel Sinclair and his 
followers passed the night before the massacre." 



88 A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 

This was another place from which to make a 
charming excursion. By stopping over a day, you 
may go with saddle horses to the Saeter Hovringen, 
where you can find provisions and beds, if desirous 
of a longer stay, and from which you proceed, on 
horseback, to the top of a mountain called Formo- 
Kampen, 4,700 feet high, from which there is a mag- 
nificent view. You can return to Laurgaard by a 
shorter path, passing Formo farmhouse. The whole 
trip may be accomplished in ten hours. One of our 
party was very anxious to take this excursion, but 
the general vote forbade the delay. We drove on 
through the lonely evening hours, through the gorge 
of Rusten, the wildest and most charming scenery 
we had yet seen. Imagine the White Mountain 
Notch, as you see it from Mt. Willard, prolonged 
for ten miles, with a stream rushing through the 
winding gorge in a succession of rapids and cataracts, 
lofty cliffs and great boulders rising abruptly on each 
side, the road crossing from one bank to the other, 
as it can find footing along the face of the precipice. 
Perhaps the resemblance is greater to parts of the Via 
Mala, in Switzerland; but I never saw anything ex- 
actly like the Norway scenery, whether of the fjords or 
fjelds, or the lakes, or the waterfalls and rushing moun- 
tain streams. They have all a character of their own. 

At Brendhaugen, where we expected to pass the 
night, seven miles from Laurgaard, the station is small, 
though very clean and good, and we found only two 
small rooms vacant. So the occupants of the " giggle" 
stopped, being perhaps a little more weary than the 
rest; and we four, in the "trille," pushed on to Tofte 
Moen, seven miles farther. We drove- from 11 P. M. 



LISTAD TO LESJE JERNVAERK. 



89 



till 12.30, in the loveliest twilight, and instead of grow- 
ing darker, it grew lighter after midnight, and seemed 
like dawn. But we were very tired when we reached 
Tofte Moen. The station is kept by Herr Tofte, who 
is a descendant of Harold Harfager, and very proud 
of his ancestry. Snorre Sturleson's account of Harold's 
adventures at " Thopte " is mingled with the mythical 
element to some extent. A Laplander came to him 
saying that he had promised to visit his hut; and when 
he did so a beautiful maiden met him at the door, bear- 
ing a cup of mead. Harold married this beautiful 
Snaefrid, and " loved her so passionately that he for- 
got all his royal dignity." After her death, her body 
remained "fresh and red" for three years, preserved 
by Lapp sorcery, and he sat watching by the bedside 
till some of his friends persuaded him to change the 
costly apparel, when moving the dead body broke the 
charm, and it fell into ashes. Snaefrid had left four 
sons, who all grew up to be very clever men, expert in 
all manly exercises. Ringerige, Hadeland, " Thoten 
and the lands thereto belonging " were given to these 
sons, from one of whom the family at Tofte Moen trace 
their descent. 

A curious genealogical tree hangs in the guest-room, 
springing from Harold Harfager as root. 

The clan never marry out of their family. " He is 
a rich man, and when King Oscar I. dined at his house, 
on his way to be crowned at Throndhjem, in i860, he 
told his majesty it was unnecessary to bring in his 
plate, as he had silver forks and spoons enough for all 
the thirty or forty in his suite. When the landlord is 
treated with the respect which he considers is due to 
him, the traveller may receive much civility. His 



qo 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



brother, who lives half an hour's walk from Tofte 
Moen, has a saeter well worth seeing ; it is about 
an hour's ride up to it. This man has about a hun- 
dred and fifty cows and calves, two hundred sheep 
and forty or fifty goats in his stable all winter." 
We read this in Bennett, and similar particulars in 
Murray, and were ready to treat Herr Tofte with 
all possible respect, hoping, if not for a sight of 
the silver, at least for comfortable beds, after our fifty 
miles of travel, and a good breakfast in the morning. 
The house was all shut up (I was about to say "dark/' 
till I remembered); evidently no one was awake. 
With some difficulty we roused people in the rear; a 
woman opened the door, and presently a man stumbled 
out sleepily and began to unharness the horses. 

We had felt great sympathy for the little skyd, 
whom we were obliged to bring on from Brendhaugen. 
The poor child was perched on the box which held 
our luggage, projecting about six inches behind the 
front seat, and usually covered with wraps and small 
parcels. He was so heavy with sleep that we had to 
watch him constantly to keep him from falling out of 
the carriage. This poor, sleepy boy must now start 
back with the horses, riding bareback on one, and 
leading the other. 

We followed the woman into the house, and she 
sent us up a sort of ladder, to rude, unplastered 
rooms, where we found straw beds covering loose hay, 
in box-like bedsteads, made up with sheets of the 
coarsest unbleached cotton, comforters," not the 
cleanest, and no pillow-cases. But we were tired 
enough to sleep. Next morning we rose late, for 
our friends were not likely to arrive from Brendhau- 



LIS TAD TO LESJE JERNVAERK. 



9 -i 



gen before ten or eleven o'clock, and we made our 
way through the other passage into which our rooms 
opened, down a more civilized staircase than the one 
we had climbed to our loft. Breakfast was laid in a 
large, pleasant room, plainly furnished, as in other 
station-houses. But the coffee was not particularly 
good, the eggs were scarcely fresh, and the milk was 
decidedly sour. We saw nothing of Herr Tofte, nor his 
silver, beyond the necessary spoons, and were glad to 
start on, when our friends came up. They exasperated 
us with accounts of comfortable beds and a breakfast 
— "What do you think we had for breakfast? Pan- 
cakes, delicious pancakes!" 

"Did you find out what they are in Norsk?" we 
asked eagerly; for our bill of fare had been limited, 
like that of a little girl I knew, at a French school in 
New York, to what we knew how to ask for. Tea, 
coffee, milk, eggs, butter, bread (they put on cheese 
without our asking for it), fish, and meat without spe- 
cifying the kind; this was about the extent of our 
vocabulary. Sometimes we tried simply, "Spise"; or 
"Kan vi faa spise strax?" (Can we have dinner im- 
mediately?) and took what they liked to give. Break- 
fast was " Frokost " ; dinner, " Middags mad "; supper, 
"Eftens mad." Oatmeal porridge was " Grod," and 
cream was "Flode." We studied the phrase-book, and 
tried to learn of the friendly women at the stations; but, 
at first, we had the usual experience of those trying hur- 
riedly to acquire a new language in the midst of dis- 
tractions; for every new word we learned, we forgot 
an old one. "What is the Norsk for pancakes ? Pande 
kager, to be sure ! " We remembered that word, and 
used it at the very next opportunity. 



9 2 



A SCANDINAVIAN' SUMMER. 



From Tofte Moen the road leads up hill all the way 
to Dombaas, where the ascent of the Dovrefjeld fairly 
begins, and where, also the route up the Romsdal turns 
off. This is a large station, and a telegraph station 
also. The houses seemed very comfortable; but we 
stopped only long enough to change horses, and 
lunched meanwhile on our biscuits and sherry, keep- 
ing on to Holaker, seven miles farther, for dinner. 
Bennett says that a magnificent view of Svenaetten, 
some of the Romsdal peaks, and the Rondane range, 
may be had from the summit of Hareg Kampen, op- 
posite Dombaas, on the other side of Laagen. The 
excursion occupies four or five hours. Delicious milk 
may be had at the saeter of Hareggen near the summit. 

That would have been a nice excursion, but the 
spirit of progress possessed us. It was Saturday, and 
we had decided to get as far as Lesje Jernvaerk, which 
Bennett's description made us suppose a particularly 
comfortable station, to stop over Sunday. Holaker 
would have been a nicer place still; and we could have 
climbed Hareg Kampen. We did not even inquire 
about the saddle-horses; but they would be sure to 
have them, at so large a station as Dombaas. The 
truth was, the scenery was so fine, all along the road, 
that it seemed hardly worth our while to take the ex- 
tra trouble and fatigue necessary for a more extended 
view. 

Along the Gudbrandsdal we had now and then 
passed a church; one near Holmen, built of wood and 
painted red, with a white spire; and another in the 
neighborhood of Moen; and, at Tofte Moen, the Dovre 
church, which has a wooden framework, covered with 
slabs of the gray stone (" fri-stene ") obtained on the 



LISTAD TO LESJE JERNVAERK. 



93 



fjelds, which splits off easily. But there was nothing 
like a village; the scattered farmsteads being so far 
apart as to be seldom within sight of each other, and 
generally off the main road. The farther we went into 
the interior the fewer houses we saw. All this region 
was more thickly settled, especially in the neighbor- 
hood of Lake Mjosen, before the country was devas- 
tated by repeated visits from the plague, during the 
twelfth century and later. 

In the time of Bishop Pontoppidan, 1750 or so, the 
Gudbrandsdalers were considered the tallest and finest 
of all Norwegians, and they had the finest horses and 
cattle. So healthy was the region, that in the par- 
ish of Laessoe, there were people of such extreme 
age that ''from a lassitude of longer life they get 
themselves removed elsewhere in order to die the 
sooner." 

The bishop describes the farmstead or " gaard " of 
Naes, in this valley, as the same building where King 
Olaf lodged five nights in 1022, "when he took a cir- 
cuit round the kingdom to convert the people to the 
Christian religion." Seven hundred years seem a long 
time for a wooden house to last, but there are remains 
of an old timber building in Bergen, dating back to the 
thirteenth century. None of these churches look old 
enough to be the one built by old Gudbrand after his 
somewhat peremptory conversion. Let me abridge 
for you the story of it, as given by Snorre Sturleson. 

During St. Olaf's tour through the region, meetings 
of the Bonders were called, and the alternative offered 
amounted to, " Be Christians, or die ! " 

Temples were torn down and idols smashed in pieces 
by King Olaf and his brave Three Hundred. 



54 



A SCANDINAVIA IV SUMMER. 



One of the longest conflicts was the debate between 
the king and old Gudbrand, who reigned like a king in 
his district, the fertile valley of the Laagen — Gud- 
brandsdal to this day. He had raised a company of 
seven hundred men and given the command to his son; 
but at the first attack of Olaf 's men they turned and 
fled, leaving Gudbrand's son a prisoner. Olaf sends 
him back to his father, who greets him with derision, 
calling him coward, and is resolved to rally his forces 
and fight; but he has a remarkable dream that night 
— the vision of a shining one, who warns him not to 
fight with Olaf. So he proposes the holding of a 
' Thing," to discuss the matter peaceably. 

The first day there is a heavy rain, and proceedings 
are brief. King Olaf addresses the meeting: " The 
people of Lessoe, Lorn and Vaage have accepted 
Christianity, and broken down their idol-houses; they 
believe now in the true God who has made heaven and 
earth and all things." 

Gudbrand replies, " Dost thou call Him God whom 
neither thou nor any one else can see ? But we have 
a god who can be seen every day, although he is not 
out to-day because the weather is wet." 

(Not a controller of the weather, after all, though 
that was part of the employment assigned to Thor in 
the Norse mythology. Perhaps he had been tried 
and found wanting in that capacity; for Gudbrand 
goes on to propose a weather test to St. Olaf.) " But, 
since thou sayest thy God is so great, let Him make 
it so that to-morrow we have a cloudy day, but with- 
out rain; and then let us meet again." 

They separated, the king taking Gudbrand's son 
as a hostage, and leaving a hostage in his stead. 



LI ST AD TO LESJE JERNVAERK. 



95 



In the evening the king asked Gudbrand's son what 
their god was like. He replied that he bore the like- 
ness of Thor; had a hammer in his hand, was of great 
size but hollow, and mounted upon a high stand. 
" Neither gold nor silver is wanting about him, and 
every day he receives four cakes of bread, besides 
meat." Then they went to bed; but the king watched 
all night in prayer. Next day the weather was such 
as Gudbrand had desired. The bishop stood up in 
his robes, with his crosier in his hand, and spoke to 
the Bonders of the true faith and the wonderful works 
of God. Nothing was decided this day; but the 
weather test is again proposed: Since your God 
is so powerful, and can do so many wonders, tell 
him to make it clear sunshine to-morrow forenoon, 
and then we shall meet you here again and do one 
or two things — either agree with you about this busi- 
ness, or fight you." 

The king watched all night in prayer again, but 
had resort to the arm of flesh as well, instructing 
one of his strongest adherents to have the boats of 
the Bonders scuttled, and their horses untied and 
let loose; which was done. In the early morning, 
Olaf went to the Thing. He saw a great crowd com- 
ing along, bearing with them a huge image, gleaming 
with gold and silver. It was set down on the field, 
and on one side were the Bonders, on the other the 
king and his men. Then Gudbrand made a speech, 
inviting them to submit to his god; and Olaf made 
a speech in return, ending with, " Thou wouldst 
frighten us with thy god, who is both blind and 
deaf, and cannot even move without being carried; 
but now it will be a short time before he meets his 



9 6 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



fate; for, turn your eyes toward the east — behold our 
God advancing in great light ! " 

The sun was rising, and all turned to look; and 
Kolbein the strong, being before instructed of the 
king, gave the idol a stroke with his club, so that 
he burst asunder and there ran out of him mice almost 
as big as cats, and reptiles and adders. The terrified 
Bonders ran for their boats, but the boats sunk under 
their weight. Others ran to their horses, but the 
horses were gone. Finally the king called them back 
again, and made a concluding address: "You see now 
what your god can do, and who the protecting powers 
were who consumed the meat and bread — the mice and 
the reptiles. Take now your gold and ornaments that 
are lying on the grass, and give them to your wives 
and daughters; but never hang them again upon stocks 
and stones. Here are two conditions to choose from: 
either accept Christianity, or fight this very day, and 
the victory be to them to whom the God we worship 
gives it." 

Then Gudbrand stood up and said, "We have sus- 
tained great damage upon our god; but since he will 
not help us, we will believe in the God whom thou 
believest in." 

They all received Christianity. The bishop bap- 
tized Gudbrand and his son. King Olaf and Bishop 
Sigurd left behind them teachers, and they who met 
as enemies parted as friends. And Gudbrand built 
a church in the valley. 

At Holaker, seven miles beyond Dombaas, we 
stopped for dinner, and, after asking, "Hvad kan vi 
faa til middag?" we did not fail to suggest "pande 
kager." We got them, and particularly nice ones too; 



LI ST AD TO LESJE JERNVAERK. 



97 



and we had also fresh salmon-trout, caught in the 
river Laagen, veal cutlets, potatoes, bread in variety, 
wheat, rye, and "fladbrod," and excellent beer, with 
sweet cakes, very thin and delicate-looking, as if 
baked in a round waffle-iron. The table was set with 
pretty silver and china, and the house was large, and 
neatly and comfortably furnished. In the guest-room, 
beside the cupboard for china and silver, was a set of 
book-shelves, well filled with books in Norsk, German, 
French and English, a sofa, and American rocking- 
chairs, some pictures on the papered walls, and plants 
at the windows. The hostess, a nice respectable-look- 
ing woman, waited upon us, and enjoyed our apprecia- 
tion of her good cooking. Her husband had been in 
America, and of course, spoke English, and she also 
understood it a little. 

We went on from Holaker to Holset, about ten miles, 
over a hilly road. This road was not quite so good as 
the mail route through the Gudbrandsdal, which we had 
left at Dombaas. Since 1850, the route from Christi- 
ania to Throndhjem has been wholly reconstructed, at 
great expense, and is now one of the best in Norway. 
The roads are kept in order by the landed proprietors. 
The parishes are divided into districts called "roder" 
(wards), which are numbered. Every farm has also 
a number in the parish register, called " Lobe " (run- 
ning); so one sees posts along the roadside with 
words and numbers enigmatical to the stranger; for 
instance, "Holtet — Rode — No. 4, Lobe — No. 16, — 100 
Alen," means that the farm called Holtet belongs to the 
Ward No. 4, is registered as No. 16, and has to keep 
in order 100 alen (200 feet) of the road, which is the 
distance to the next post bearing a similar inscription. 
5 



9 8 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



The station at Holset was at the foot of a steep hill, 
a little off the road; so we sat in the carriage while 
the horses were exchanged for fresh ones, and amused 
ourselves with the children who came up to inspect 
us, but who were too shy to talk much. They are 
very different from the bright little black-eyed Italian 
beggars we used to find so entertaining; but they get 
a much better education, and stand a better chance of 
living useful and respectable lives. We wanted to give 
them a trifle, but were restrained, by the advice in the 
guide-books, not to give to beggars. Those children 
were not beggars, and we met very few; but giving 
might create a desire for skillings, which would lead 
to annoyance for future travellers. If you care more 
for this, and the effect upon the character of the chil- 
dren, than for the present pleasure to them and to 
yourself, procured by the bestowal of a few coppers, 
you will wisely refrain from giving. 

Holset is described by Bennett as "excellent and 
extremely cheap quarters, with particularly obliging 
people." He adds that they furnish very good horses. 
At his earnest recommendation, our harness had 
included breeching; but up to this time it had seldom 
been used. The horses are not accustomed to it, 
and the stable boys object to putting it on them. 
Here, seeing a long and steep hill before us, my 
brother insisted upon the breeching. But scarcely 
had we started down the hill when one of the horses 
deliberately sat down in his strap, and apparently in- 
tended sliding on his stiffened forelegs to the bottom. 
With some difficulty he was induced to resume his nor- 
mal position, and proceed in a suitable manner. These 
horses, being accustomed to the light carioles, are in the 



LI ST AD TO LESJE JERNVAERK. 



99 



habit of trotting down the steep hills, and are so sure- 
footed that they may be safely trusted to do so. Now 
and then, when the road took a sudden turn, or the 
hill was a winding one, we came near upsetting; though 
we always put a heavy iron drag, or "shoe," on one of 
the wheels, for a very steep hill, and not unfrequently 
the ladies preferred to walk to the bottom. 

The road from Holset to the next station was heavy 
and sandy, through a sort of pine barrens, gradually 
rising, and the vegetation growing more scanty as we 
approached Lesje Jernvaerk, which is situated 2,050 
feet above the sea. 

We arrived here about 9 P. M., and finding the sta- 
tion clean and comfortable, with room enough for us 
all, we decided to stop over night and over Sunday. 

This is the watershed between the two valleys, the 
Gudbrandsdal and the Romsdal, and from the dark, cold 
lake at the foot of the hill, on the slope of which the 
house is built, runs the river Laagen, — which we have 
followed from its embouchure into the Mjosen Lake, — 
going southwards till it empties into the Christiania 
Fjord and the North Sea. From the same lake flows 
the river Rauma, running, leaping, foaming, in wild 
beauty, fed by mountain streams which dash down 
rocky precipices in snowy cataracts, till it reaches the 
Romsdal or Molde Fjord and mingles with the great 
Atlantic Ocean. Watersheds are always suggestive 
of human analogies. These rivers remind us of two 
peasant boys brought up together in the seemingly 
cold, hard, repressed and barren life of a Northern 
farmhouse. One plods stupidly on, with but an occa- 
sional interlude of beauty or sentiment in his life; the 
other, impatient of restraint, plunges into all manner 



IOO 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



of mischief and excitement, unless his energies find 
some adequate outlet; and he leaves his home, to 
mingle with the world beyond. 

The air is very cold, with a penetrating chill we have 
not felt before, and looking across the narrow valley, 
at the long, high mountain, behind which the sun has 
dropped, we see great fields of snow lying along its 
slopes and deep down its ravines. We stroll down the 
hill to inspect the ironworks, which were set in opera- 
tion about 1650, but have not been worked for the last 
sixty years. 

Masses of slag are lying about, and there are some 
remains of the furnaces. There is a saw-mill here 
turned by a little stream which runs into the lake. 

The station-house is a fine specimen of the old timber 
buildings, unpainted, but colored by time and weather 
with rich, velvety brown tints, and is about a hundred and 
fifty years old. There are two entrances on the front; 
one opens into the passage leading to the guest-rooms, 
the other into the family apartments. There is a large 
sitting-room, and two bedrooms opening out of it, and 
above stairs are four sleeping-rooms. These are rudely 
finished, with partitions of unpainted boards, and very 
simply furnished with beds, tables, chairs and tiny look- 
ing glasses, about six inches by four in size, hanging 
on the walls. Everything was clean and comfortable, 
however, in spite of its severe simplicity; and we slept 
soundly till a late hour next morning. It had rained 
in the night, and we had showers through the morning. 
Our open carriages, which, in the absence of any place 
for their accommodation, had been left standing in the 
road, in front of the house, and not covered as they 
should have been, were soaking wet; but most of our 



LIST AD TO LESJE JERNVAERK. ioi 



luggage had been brought in, and as we were not going 
on to-day there was time for rugs and cushions to be 
dried. We had asked for " grod " for breakfast (oat- 
meal porridge), and it was excellent, with plenty of 
rich cream to eat on it and put in our coffee. We had, 
besides, the usual rye bread, "kavringer" and biscuits, 
with fresh eggs. It was too wet to go out, and we all 
devoted ourselves to letter writing. A fire had been 
kindled in the cast-iron stove (an old-fashioned, ele- 
vated heater, like those common in New England 
kitchens thirty or forty years ago), and a strange, 
goaty smell pervaded the sitting-room, which we de- 
cided must proceed from the curious oil-cloth hang- 
ings which covered the walls in lieu of paper. Miss M. 
asked for a footstool, for the chairs were all high and 
hard; and an odd, old-fashioned little chair was brought 
her, of which she begged me to make a drawing to en- 
close in her letter to her sister. 

In the absence of external resources, dinner was an 
interesting event. We had " ryper " roasted, with po- 
tatoes and pancakes. For dessert, the good woman 
of the house, who waited on us entirely, brought us a 
little wooden tub of thickened milk — "bonny-clabber," 
we used to call it at home — and set it before Will; but 
when he was dipping the spoon deeply in she took it 
from him and skimmed off the rich cream on top, which 
she served to us, with powdered sugar and cinnamon, 
and then carried out the tub and brought in a fresh 
one. It was delicious. 

This poor woman had a very sad, over-worked 
expression, and could hardly be made to smile. We 
wanted to talk with her, and find out if she had any 
special sorrow or trouble, or if it was only the effect 



102 



A SCANDINAVIAN- SUMMER. 



of her hard, monotonous, dreary life; but our vocab- 
ulary was too limited. 

We were curious to see something- of the family 
life; but an attempt we made to enter the living- 
room, under pretence of asking for something we 
wanted, was not encouraged. There seemed to be 
old people there, and there were plenty of men 
and women about the premises, but no children or 
young people to be seen. Perhaps she had lost 
her children; perhaps, they had emigrated to Amer- 
ica ; perhaps, poor soul she never had any. But 
children are generally abundant in a Norsk farm- 
house; the poorer the house, the more overflowing 
with babies. 

It ceased raining in the afternoon, and Miss M. 
and I went for a stroll. We passed a little garden 
patch, where lettuce was growing about two inches 
high, this 27th of June. When would it ever be 
large enough to eat ? It was really pathetic. 

Was the snow ever wholly gone from those high 
mountains ? The days were already growing shorter. 
Oh, what a dismal country to live in ! I think not 
even potatoes ripen, so far north, unless near the 
seaboard. And we saw no other vegetable, inland. 
We went into the fields, and climbed the hill behind 
the house and pulled handfuls of wild flowers. Dear 
little cheery blossoms, we never found a spot in Nor- 
way, however bleak and bare, where some of you 
did not show your bright faces ! 

Whole fields were purple with pansies; and along 
the roadside grew the yellow genista, a sort of wild 
schizanthus, tiny white star-flowers in the grass, deli- 
cate spikes like heather, harebells blue as the sky, 



LIST AD TO LESJE JERNVAERK. 103 



and lovely pink and white everlasting. A big dog 
followed us from the house, as if to protect us in our 
ramble. 

We came back loaded with flowers — pressed some, 
and arranged others in a glass. I meant to keep 
my pretty bunch of everlasting, but went off next 
day and forgot it; and when we came back three 
days later, there were the flowers on the window- 
seat, just as I left them. Did the sad-faced woman 
care for them enough to keep them, or had she not 
noticed them at all ? 



VII. 

DOWN THE ROMSDAL AND BACK. 
E rose early on Monday, and got off by 8.30 A.M. 



T * ! The first station, Molmen, is eight miles be- 
yond Lesje; and the next, Stueflaaten, seven miles 
farther. At both places we stopped only to change 
horses, and were not long delayed; but we went in to 
warm ourselves, as the morning was chilly, and im- 
proved our chances for observation. We entered the 
family room, sat down by the open fire, on a square 
hearthstone, under the chimney, which was built in the 
room, instead of outside. A crane hung over the fire, 
and all the cooking was done in pots and frying pans. 
Several women were busy, carding and spinning wool; 
and one of them kept a rude cradle in motion with her 
foot. I hoped the baby would wake up, so that we 
could see whether it were "smokke"; but it was sound 
asleep. There was a loom here, also, for weaving 
homespun as at Moen. 

Shortly after leaving Molmen, we passed the Gaard 
Einabu, where St. Olaf, when flying from his realm, 
halted, on the journey from Sandmor to Bergen, in 
the year 1029. A relic of a yet earlier time is to be 
seen in a large stone which is the only remaining frag- 
ment of a stone circle, very probably destroyed during 
the reign of this same King Olaf. He was contem- 
porary with Knut of Denmark and England, and in 




DOWN, THE ROMSDAL AND BACK. 



105 



company with the Swedish king, Olaf, he made an in- 
cursion upon Denmark, during the king's absence. In 
retaliation, Knut attacked both Sweden and Norway, 
the following year, and drove Olaf from his kingdom. 
He took refuge with his infant son Magnus, in Rus- 
sia; but returning, fell in battle at Stiklestad, near 
Throndhjem, in 1030. 

In our Sunday walk at Lesje we had noticed the 
way in which the water supply for the horses and 
cattle is brought down from springs on the mountains, 
in a series of wooden spouts or pipes, sometimes cross- 
ing the road on a sort of gateway, above the heads of 
the passers; but oftener the little rivulet in its wooden 
pipe is covered by a small bridge. Along the road, 
we came frequently to drinking troughs, fed by simi- 
lar pipes. We noticed also on the high plateau of 
Lesje, and along the Romsdal, where they have high 
winds and numerous showers, a curious method of dry- 
ing hay, which, I dare say, has been remarked by other 
travellers. Hurdles are erected, three or four feet high 
and perhaps ten feet long, upon which the short grass 
is spread, and so interwoven as not to blow away, while 
it receives the most sun and the least rain possible. 

At a little distance, these hurdles, scattered about 
a field, had the effect of a plan of battle, looking like 
platoons of infantry advancing against each other. 

Most of the farm buildings, especially barns and 
granaries, are raised upon pillars of stone several feet 
in height, to lift them above the snow, and allow the 
watercourses, when the snow melts, to pass beneath. 
It doubtless answers the purpose, also, of protection 
from rats and other vermin. 

Occasionally we crossed a bridge over a little brawl- 

5* 



io6 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



ing mountain stream. These are constructed in a some- 
what peculiar fashion, common to all the mountainous 
districts of Norway. The rock is first levelled on both 
sides the stream; solid pine-trees are then laid close 
together, projecting several feet over the water; above 
these other trees are placed crosswise; then another 
layer, parallel with the first, but farther out; and so 
on, from each bank, until the distance is narrow 
enough to be spanned by single trunks. All these 
are firmly riveted together and covered with earth 
near the ends, then a flooring of rough planks is laid, 
and perhaps a side railing is added. Bishop Pon- 
toppidan describes the bridges of his time, which 
were similar to these, but less solidly built, without 
rivets; and sometimes the centre piece consisted of 
but a single trunk or mast, which swayed under the 
weight of the passer, and seemed insecure, as well 
it might. 

Stueflaaten is the last station in the Gudbrandsdal. 
We begin to descend from the rather dreary plateau, 
and to follow the course of the beautiful, wild Rauma. 
We see in the distance the snowy peaks of the Romsdal 
mountains, and the scenery grows constantly grander. 
Not far from the next station, Ormen, we turn aside 
from the road, where a little sign marks the way to 
the Sondre Slettenfoss, and leaving our horses in care 
of the postboy we scramble down the slippery path 
to the river. A few trunks of pine-trees laid across 
the gorge form a bridge on which we stand to look 
at the falls or rather series of cascades, in which the 
river foams and whirls and plunges over the mossy 
boulders which fill the winding gorge. When the sun 
shines, the spray must be full of rainbows, but to-day 



DOWN THE ROMSDAL AND BACK. 



107 



it has been cloudy, and rain is already falling. Mr. 
Bennett advises the thorough exploration of the river 
between Stueflaaten and Ormen, as perhaps nowhere 
else in Norway can be found, within a distance of 
seven miles, such a succession of bold and beautiful 
falls. At Ormen there is a magnificent cascade, the 
Vermedalsfossen. It sweeps down the mountain, which 
rises directly beyond the river, in a single sheet, per- 
haps two-thirds of the way, then is divided by rocks 
into three falls. We had a fine view of it from the 
windows of the station-house, and should have set 
out to cross the river and obtain a nearer view, but 
for the rain. 

It was so chilly that a fire was kindled for us in the 
guest-room, in a stove similar to the one at Lesje. 
The family room was warmed by an open fire, and the 
cooking done over it. This house is built of squared 
timbers, like that at Lesje; and, judging from its rich 
coloring, it must be nearly as old. The windows are 
large and square, affording a great deal of light; but it 
must be impossible to get too much of that good thing, 
in the long, dark winter. The only shutters are white 
curtains, or paper shades, which you roll up and tie 
with a string. The floors are bare, of course, as every- 
where. I am sure we did not see a carpet between 
Christiania and Throndhjem. 

The scenery grows wilder after we leave Ormen, 
and at the next station, Fladmark, it is extremely 
grand and sombre. Great mountains of barren rock 
rise, almost perpendicularly, to the height of four or 
five thousand feet, on each side the valley. We looked 
up on one side to the jagged peaks of the Troll Tin- 
derne (Witches' peaks), something like the aiguilles 



io8 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



in the valley of Chamouni; and on the other, close 
above us, toward the massive Romsdalhorn. All along 
this narrow pass, where the road finds its footing be- 
tween the river and the precipice, we saw the loveliest 
little waterfalls, sometimes a mere gleaming thread 
against the dark rock, but often a waving veil of spray 
coming down thousands of feet from the crags over 
our heads. 

The house at Fladmark was of stone, solid and som- 
bre, like the rocks all about it. We drove through a 
field to reach it, and the grass was full of buttercups, 
and the loveliest great harebells. We wandered about, 
plucking them, instead of going inside, while a boy 
was sent to the pasture for the fresh horses. These 
horses are a peculiar breed: dun-colored, with light 
manes and tails; and the manes are cropped closely, 
so that they stand up in a ridge along the neck, with 
a forelock left, for convenience to lead them out by 
(as one is advised to take Time), and it gives them 
somewhat the appearance of a young lady whose hair 
has been " banged." They are rather small, but excel- 
lent travellers, and the people are very fond and proud 
of them, and greatly resent any fancied unkindness. You 
are advised to drive them slowly the first mile of the 
stage, and let them walk up the hills— they like to trot 
down; perhaps better than you do to have them. One 
peculiarity must be guarded against: a tendency to go 
very near the verge of the precipice. I hardly know 
what causes this; it cannot be a habit of carrying pan- 
niers on narrow pathways, like the mules in Switzerland 
and Spain, which have the same disagreeable pecu- 
liarity. It is especially dangerous, when one is driving 
in a cariole; for if one wheel should slip over the edge 



DOWN THE ROMSDAL AND BACK. 



109 



of a precipice, the whole concern is bound to follow. 
The roads have no guard, except a series of stone 
posts, about a foot in height and ten to twenty feet 
apart, and these are sometimes wanting. 

Horgheim is the next station, seven miles beyond 
Fladmark. The scenery grows wilder till you pass 
the Romsdalhorn, where the valley widens and the 
river spreads out into a little lake. The contrast of 
the green meadow and the still water, reflecting the 
fir-trees and the snowy peaks, with the gloomy, barren 
defile we have passed through, is very charming. 

Close under the mountain is a farmhouse belonging 
to Andreas Landmark, whose station, " Hotel Aak," 
we find about a mile farther, in a lovely situation, with 
a fine view of the Romsdalhorn and the Troll Tinderne, 
as also of another chain of mountains, to the northward, 
called Bispen, Kongen and Dronningen: the Bishop, 
King and Queen. The house is quite large, two sto- 
ries in height, and painted white, and has an air of 
comfort, which is not belied by the interior. It is a 
favorite place with English tourists, not only on ac- 
count of the fine scenery and pleasant excursions to 
be made in the neighborhood, but for the salmon fish- 
ing; and it is often full during the entire summer. A 
pretty girl met us with a cordial greeting in English — 
one of Herr Landmark's daughters. He has a son who 
speaks English, also, and can act as guide, if one 
wishes to ascend any of the mountains. He told us 
he had been up the Romsdalhorn, and that the ascent 
was not particularly difficult, except the final peak, 
which, being a bare cone of rock, must be almost in- 
accessible. It is not unlike a smaller edition of the 
Matterhorn. 



I 10 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



There were but few people in the house; an Irish 
major and his wife, with a niece (a very bright, pretty 
young lady), and a student from Cornell University, 
who was pedestrianizing. It was late when we ar- 
rived; so we had supper and soon went to our rooms. 

The house was plainly furnished, and the rooms and 
beds no better than at average stations. There was 
an effort at style in the meals, which were served at 
regular hours — breakfast from 8 to 9, table d'hote din- 
ner at 4, and supper at 7. 

Next morning we drove down to Naes and Veb- 
lungsnaes, stations lying about ten miles from Aak, on 
a branch of the Romsdal or Molde Fjord, called the 
Eisfjord, into which the Rauma empties, more than 
two thousand feet below its source at Lesje Jernvaerk. 
The situation is not nearly so pretty as that of Aak; 
but Aandahl's hotel is said to be very comfortable, and 
the sea bathing is good. Excursions may be made by 
boat or cariole; and Herr Aandahl gives permission 
to his lodgers to fish for salmon, for a couple of miles 
up the river, and for trout in a lake four or five miles 
distant. He owns a saeter also, to which an excursion 
may be made. The route from here to Molde may 
be pursued by cariole, crossing four branches of the 
fjord; horses and carioles are taken into the large 
rowboats; but for large, heavy carriages it would be 
a matter of difficulty to cross. 

The trip may be made more conveniently by the 
little steamers which run up and down the fjord, con- 
necting at Molde with the regular coast line of steam- 
ers from Hamburg to Vadsoe. There is a route from 
Molde to Throndhjem, partly by land and partly by 
water, of about one hundred and fifty miles, which af- 



DOWN THE ROMSDAL AND BACK. 



1 1 1 



fords some fine scenery and good fishing and shooting, 
but is not highly recommended to the traveller by Mr. 
Bennett. There is a route from Molde to Sogne Fjord, 
on the contrary, which includes some of the grandest 
fjord and mountain scenery in Norway; and for those 
who are capable of roughing it, and travelling some- 
times on horseback and on foot, with occasional inter- 
vals of boating and cariole driving, it must be very 
delightful. One is tempted to wish, sometimes, that 
Norway might be as thoroughly opened to travel as 
Switzerland or the Tyrol; but this would spoil two of 
the greatest charms of the country — its wildness and 
simplicity. 

We did not visit Molde, as we expected to stop there 
on our return, by steamer, from Throndhjem to Bergen. 

There was something of a village at Naes; the lar- 
gest we had seen since leaving Lillehammer. We tried 
to get somebody to take us out boating, while our 
horses were resting; but though there was a large boat 
fastened to the pier, we could not find the owner, or 
make the boys in charge understand what we wanted 
it for, and we finally gave up in despair, most of the 
party concluding that they did not care much about 
it, anyway. Clearly, the grapes were sour. 

Returning to Aak to dinner, we found the party in- 
creased by the arrival of an American gentleman and 
lady, who puzzled us at first as to their nationality. 
We thought the lady American, but the gentleman 
English; and it appeared that he was very willing to 
be so mistaken, having resided for some time in Eng- 
land, and acquired a very unpatriotic distaste for 
American institutions. He was in some trouble, hav- 
ing left a valuable watch under his pillow that morn- 



I I 2 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



ing at Stueflaaten. As we were going back to Ormen 
that afternoon, he asked us to speak of it and have it 
forwarded to Aak by the first opportunity. After din- 
ner we looked at photographs of the Romsdal scenery 
— of which young Landmark kept an assortment for 
sale — and made a selection of some of the finest views 
between Ormen and Aak. We found a few English 
books in the little parlor; among others, Lady Di 
Beauclerk's " Summer in Norway: " a pleasant story 
of several months spent in this very Hotel Aak. 

They have avalanches here, not infrequently, from 
the " Troll Tinderne " across the lake; but we were not 
so fortunate as to hear or see one. There had been 
one the day before our arrival, the major told us, fall- 
ing with a dull crash, like thunder, and yet unlike it. 

We had a pleasant party at dinner, and a very good 
dinner. The major carved the roast lamb and served 
the rhubarb tart. We had good beer, and after dinner 
coffee. Then, with regret, we left this charming place 
and these friendly people, hardly expecting to meet 
them again; but it happened that we did, and not very 
long after. 

We drove to Ormen, about twenty miles, changing 
horses at Horgheim and Fladmark. We had passed 
through this grand scenery, in showery and cloudy 
weather, the day before; but now it was lighted up with 
sunshine, and the numerous waterfalls were wonderfully 
fine; so much fuller, that the water rushed across our 
path in several places, and we were drenched with 
spray as we passed. We had finer views of the great 
Romsdalhorn, rising abruptly from the valley, which 
is but little above the sea level, to its height of 4,700 
feet; and the strange black peaks, rising among snow 



DOWX THE ROMS DAL AND BACK. 



fields, of the Troll Tinderne, across the valley. We 
reached Ormen about 9 P. M., went in and engaged 
rooms, and ordered supper, and then proposed walk- 
ing to the foot of the falls. It looked an easy walk; 
the path descending the hill in the rear of the station, 
crossing the river by a bridge, and then climbing be- 
side the cascade to the point where the falls divided, 
and a rude bridge crossed the sheet, affording appar- 
ently a fine point of sight both up and down the tor- 
rent. Everybody protested against my undertaking 
it; none of the other ladies cared to go, and finally 
Will set off alone. He was gone nearly an hour, and 
reported it a hard climb, the distance much greater 
than it looked, and the view of the falls not very much 
finer that from our windows. So I was comforted. 

The station-house at Ormen was one of the most 
primitive and yet most comfortable of any we had 
seen. The house was divided by a narrow passage 
into two parts — the family-room and kitchen on one 
side and the guest-room on the other, with two small 
bedrooms opening out of it. These were painted and 
papered and had plain furniture of painted wood. We 
climbed by a steep, ladder-like stair to the second 
story, where the bare timbers formed the walls, and 
only the doors and window frames were painted, and 
passed through a large bare room, over the sitting- 
room, to three tiny chambers beyond. Our bedsteads 
were wooden boxes, with little attempt at ornament, 
holding mattresses of straw and feather beds, but made 
up with very clean, nice linen and down coverlids. On 
the bedsteads were painted the names of their fair 
owners: " Serena, Asbiorn's datter, Ormeim; " "Geor- 
gina, Asbiorn's datter, Ormeim." 



114 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



Whether the three little tow heads we saw in the 
kitchen belonged to Serena or Georgina, we did not 
discover. We slept soundly in their beds, but lay- 
awake for awhile first, and took a view of the lovely 
" Vermedals fossen," the last thing, about midnight, 
when the Eastern sky was brightening with the dawn. 

We started about nine o'clock next morning, and 
while changing horses at Stueflaaten went in to inquire 
about Mr. A.'s watch. They had discovered it soon 
after his departure, and had sent it on to Aak by the 
next passer, who happened to be the regular mail car- 
rier, of course a responsible person. But I dare say 
they would have trusted it to any respectable-looking 
traveller; for these people are not only honest them- 
selves, but appear to have unlimited confidence in the 
honesty of others. 

This beautiful valley is very sparsely inhabited, 
and all the upper part of it must be very unpro- 
ductive. We saw hardly any houses except the sta- 
tions, and occasional little cabins. These had usually 
roofs covered with sods, and loaded with heavy stones 
to keep them from blowing away in a high wind. 
Grass and flowers often grew on these roofs, and 
once we saw a goat, which had clambered up from 
the rocks alongside, cropping the herbage on the roof, 
reminding us of an illustration in our old copy of 
^Esop's fables. We saw pigs running along the road- 
side, and feeding on grass, and thought their noses 
had been sharpened by plucking it between the stones. 
Why should not grass-fed pork be as wholesome as 
mutton ? 

Now and then we came upon a little boy or girl 
tending sheep, or an old woman walking along the 



DOWN THE ROMSDAL AND BACK. 



road busily knitting. They all bow to travellers, and 
say, " God-dag?" and expect equal civility in return. 
Rarely, we met travellers or skydsguts returning with 
horses. 

Occasionally, along the river, we saw little mill- 
houses, the wheel turned by the watercourse of some 
little stream, or by rapids or falls of the river itself. 
These are free to all, and the farmers come and 
grind their own grain. 

When we stopped at Stueflaaten we had gone into 
the kitchen to warm ourselves by the great square 
hearthstone, and we saw a great dish of grod which 
had just been poured out for the family dinner; darker 
and coarser than that provided for travellers. I bought 
two wooden spoons here, prettily carved, for about 
sixpence each; the first I had seen offered for sale 
at the stations. 

We dined at Molmen; and while waiting for dinner 
to be cooked, I started with one of my brothers, and. 
a little bare-headed girl for guide, to visit a waterfall 
which Bennett describes as "small but beautiful." We 
crossed a field, part of it newly ploughed ground, and 
then walked in a sort of cow-path, through a grove of 
young trees, on and on; but we did not approach the 
river, and still our little guide trotted on, with no 
sign of being anywhere near our destination. We 
had walked nearly half an hour, and it would take 
us as long to return, and as she said we were " halv- 
veis " only, We thought it best to give up the water- 
fall and return for our dinner. 

We found it very good, considering the way it was 
cooked, over an open fire. It consisted of " ryper," 
potatoes, pancakes (which were very nice, eaten with 



1 16 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



sugar and sherry), bread of various kinds, butter and 
cheese, and beer. They had no trout on hand; but 
this is said to be one of the best places for fishing along 
the river. Sometimes, when they had no fresh meat at 
the stations, we were served with croquettes of minced 
veal or game, which they put up in jars. (I did not 
always enter in my journal what we had for dinner; 
but I have mentioned our bill of fare the more fre- 
quently, because we found such a general impression 
among travellers that people were in danger of being 
starved in Norway, unless they brought with them 
quantities of provisions. The farther one gets from the 
seaboard, to be sure, the more meagre becomes the 
provision at the stations; and in visiting the saeters 
one rarely finds anything more than grod, fladbrod 
and milk). We went on about 4 P. M., stopped 
at Lesje to change horses, and, though not at all 
hungry, to eat a little of the delicious cream out of 
the wooden tubs, and then drove rapidly down the 
hills, which we had been so slow in climbing, on the 
road to Holset and Holaker. The rain had hardened 
the sandy road, and made travelling pleasanter in 
every way. We overtook a number of loose horses 
which had escaped from their pasture, and they made us 
some trouble by getting in front of ours, and refusing 
to let us pass them; but our skyd finally succeeded in 
driving them off into an open field. Then we came up 
with a litte skyd returning with a cariole (this was 
between Lesje and Holset), and as we had none of us 
tried that tempting vehicle, Will proposed an ex- 
change, putting the little fellow into his seat in the 
trille. He was a tiny shrimp, not more than five or six 
years old, but dressed like an old man, with a long- 



DOWN THE ROMSDAL AND BACK. 117 

tailed coat and a little red woollen nightcap; and it 
was too comical to see him tuck in his little skirts 
and shrink into his corner, in speechless awe of Blos- 
som, who sat beside him and held the reins. He had 
not dared to object to the transfer, but was evidently- 
ill at ease, feeling the responsibility for the horse and 
cariole a heavy weight upon his infant mind; and his 
distress finally became so great that he stood up and 
called to Will, and we had to let him get down and 
resume his charge. Poor little soul ! Think of such 
babies being trusted with horses! But then, you must 
know, he was not a baby ! When I came to read 
Thorpe's " Northern Mythology," I understood all 
about him. One of the most pathetic superstitions 
of the North is that of the Tomte, supposed to be the 
spirit of some poor heathen slave who must work out 
his salvation before Doomsday. He is a deformed lit- 
tle fellow, hardly larger than a babe, with an old, 
shrewd face, generally wearing a red cap, a gray 
jacket and wooden shoes. Like the Nissen (creatures 
analogous to the brownies in Scotland), the Tomten 
attach themselves to a dwelling, and labor for the 
benefit of the inmates, though not often visibly. A 
peasant once saw one of these little fellows dragging 
an oaten straw from the stack or an ear of wheat to 
the barn, and railed at him, saying he might as well 
bring nothing as such trifles. Then the Tomte for- 
sook him, and went to his neighbor, and the latter 
grew rich, while the first became poor. His cows died, 
his wheat mildewed, and his crops failed, year' by year. 
The proverb says: "The woodman holds the axe, but 
the Tomte fells the tree." In these latter days, I sup- 
pose they have taken to employing them as skydsguts. 



nS 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



We were glad to spend the night at the pleasant 
station of Holaker, and to enjoy the good cooking of 
the hostess. We looked at the rooms first, which were 
large and comfortable; but there were apparently only 
three, with five single beds, and Will seemed to be 
" left out in the cold." The hostess indicated a bed in 
the hall, which she could make up for him, but it was 
about the width of a coffin; and not understanding 
the stretching capacity of a Norsk bedstead he looked 
at it with indignant surprise: "Does she think I am 
going to sleep in that?" I happened to recollect 
the little bedroom out of the guest-room, where the 
day-book was kept, a neat, white-curtained affair, and 
asked if it were engaged, and if not could not brother 
Will sleep there ? Of course he could, and there was 
no further trouble. She gave us a sumptuous break- 
fast — the nicest oatmeal porridge we ever ate, toast, 
eggs, wheat and rye bread and capital pancakes. 

These were uncommonly nice people. The farmer 
had spent several years in Wisconsin, and had brought 
home American ideas of comfort. I have spoken be- 
fore of their good furniture — mahogany tables, side- 
board and escritoire, and books and newspapers; there 
was also a cooking-stove in the kitchen — a sign of ad- 
* anced civilization. 

It was refreshing to see a woman who did not wear 
the inevitable kerchief over her head, which we had 
seen at all the Romsdal stations, but had her hair 
neatly arranged. She showed us some of the antique 
finery handed down from mother to daughter — em- 
broidered belts and lappels, cloth jackets and white 
aprons. These picturesque costumes seem to be little 
worn in this part of the country. I remember no 



DOWN THE ROMS DAL AND BACK. 119 

churches in the Romsdal, and we never saw the peas- 
ants in their Sunday clothes, if they had any. Home- 
spun was the only wear. 

It occurs to me to add a word about the best season 
for seeing the Romsdal. I should say as early in June 
as possible; for the streams and waterfalls are fuller 
then, and the mountains are so much finer with their 
peaks covered with snow, which melts later in the 
summer. To be sure, it would be easier to climb them 
when the snow had disappeared; but views gained 
from their summits would be less picturesque. 



VIII. 



OVER THE DOVREFJELD. 



HURSDAY proved rainy. We started from Hol- 



aker equipped in our mackintoshes and tweed 
cloaks, and with Mr. Bennett's special invention, a 
piece of oiled canvas, attached to the back of the trille, 
drawn up around our necks to catch the streams from 
our umbrellas. It poured all the way to Dombaas. 
Well ! this was what we had expected and provided 
for; we had been fortunate to escape rain so long. We 
had suffered from dust in the early stages of our jour- 
ney, and that would trouble us no longer. We quoted 
to each other the speech of a Parisian American, whom 
we had met at Mr. Bennett's, who insisted on a cov- 
ered carriage, not as a protection from the rain; oh, 
no ! " The rain is nothing, for we shall be covered 
with caoutchouc from head to foot; but the sun upon 
my head I cannot endure ! " But the rain was cold, 
and it trickled into our necks and about our feet, more 
or less, and our arms got very tired holding up our 
umbrellas. We dreaded a whole day of it, and besides 
it seemed a pity to go over the Dovrefjeld in the rain. 

We had time to rest and warm ourselves while 
changing horses at Dombaas, and started on with re- 
newed courage, the gentlemen walking up the long, 
steep hill with which the ascent begins. We are back 




OVER THE DOVREFJELD. 



121 



again now on the mail route to Throndhjem, and the 
road is good, although so hilly. We climb all the way 
(seven miles) to the next station, Fokstuen, which is 
3,150 feet above the sea; Dombaas is 2,000. 

My childish impression of the Dovrefjeld was a long 
range of mountains, the boundary between Sweden 
and Norway, forming so to speak, the backbone of the 
country, and standing up, a bristling ridge, "like quills 
upon the fretful porcupine." It is astonishing how these 
early and often fantastic impressions cling to one; I 
knew better, of course, from later study; yet the actual 
situation was a sort of surprise; and when I hear people 
speak of " the Dovrefjeld Mountains," I fancy their idea 
of the country may be not unlike my own, as it re- 
mained until corrected by experience. A Norwegian 
fjeld is not a chain of mountains, but an elevated pla- 
teau, from which a few lofty summits rise several thou- 
sand feet higher than the general level. 

The Dovrefjeld lies a little above the sixty-second 
parallel of latitude, thus being but a little more than 
one-third of the distance from the southern extremity 
of the country to the northern. It divides the so- 
called Norden fjelder, from the Sonden fjelder (the 
northern from the southern fjelds). Norway reaches 
from the fifty-eighth to the seventy-first parallel of 
latitude. As the country grows narrower* towards 
the north, and less fertile — except for a little distance 
inland from the coast, where the climate is greatly 
softened by the Gulf Stream — the greater part of the 
population is in the southern division. The word 
"fjeld" is not translated by our "field" so nearly 
as by the Scotch "fell"; as the "fjord" is not by 
any means a "ford" but the Scotch "forth" or "frith." 
6 



122 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



Fokstuen is one of four " fjeldstuen," or literally 
mountain stoves, which are supported by the Gov- 
ernment, and were established here in the early part 
of the twelfth century. 

King Eistein, who reigned about A. D. 1 120, is: 
represented, in one of the old Sagas, as disputing 
with his brother, King Sigurd, the crusader, over 
their good deeds. Sigurd made a pilgrimage to Jeru- 
salem, and achieved victories over Moorish pirates 
and other " Turks and infidels," but Eistein stayed 
at home, governed wisely, and improved his realm. 
Among other things, he says, " The road from Thron- 
dhjem goes over the Dovrefjeld, and people had to 
sleep out of doors, and the journey was severe; but 
I built inns, and supported them with money; and 
all travellers know that Eistein has been king in 
Norway." This is the origin of the fjeldstuen, which 
were, at first, mere places of refuge, like the Alpine 
huts amid the glaciers. 

The station-keeper has a yearly provision, from 
which to pay the expenses of the station and keep 
the road open in winter. This must often be a seri- 
ous undertaking. All along the Romsdal, we had 
seen the great snow-ploughs lying about at the sta- 
tions; triangular frames of timber, which are drawn 
by horses and oxen, to break out the roads, after 
snow has fallen. Across the plateau we saw high 
poles along the wayside, which serve to guide the 
traveller in the winter, when the whole region is one 
unbroken surface of snow. 

We reached this station about three o'clock, and. 
ordered dinner of such things as they had, not expect- 
ing much. They took us to an upper room, where we 



OVER THE DOVREFJELD. 



123 



opened out our wet wraps to dry. When dinner was 
ready we were called down to the general guest-room. 
To the boiled fish, eggs, bread and butter, milk and cof- 
fee which they furnished, we added soup, prepared from 
Liebig's extract of beef (which we always carried with 
us), potted pate de foie gras and biscuits, and made a 
comfortable meal. The station was rude and not over 
cleanly, but the beds seemed as comfortable as the 
average. The weather had cleared and it was quite 
mild, with no wind, so that instead of suffering from 
the cold, as we had feared at this elevation, nearly 
four thousand feet above sea level, we were glad to 
shed some of our thick wrappings. The road was 
good, the air bracing, and the scenery fine; and the 
only drawback to our pleasure was the presence of a 
heavy, dirty skyd, who persisted in standing on the 
side step of our trille, nearly upsetting us by his weight, 
and smoking a very disagreeable pipe. We did make 
him walk up the hills, sometimes, when both the gen- 
tlemen got off to spare the horses; but he seemed to 
wonder at their doing it. He was not ugly, only 
stupid; and I suppose it was hardly his fault that he 
was a grown man instead of a little boy. 

From Fokstuen to Jerkinn is a double stage, nearly 
fourteen miles; and although the road is good and there 
are few hills, the skyd stopped us about halfway and 
kept us waiting half an hour, to rest the horses. 

We passed two lovely lakes, and little streams 
which rose from them; one, I think, flowing eastward 
into the large river Glommen, and the other following 
us all the way, to meet by and by another mountain 
stream and become the Driva, whose latter course, 
till it reaches the Tingvold fjord at Sundalsoren, is 



124 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



nearly as wild and beautiful as that of the Rauma. 
These upland lakes were situated in an almost level 
plain; neither mountains nor trees were reflected in 
their still surfaces; but I never saw water of such a 
deep, clear, sapphire blue. The mosses and lichens 
and rocks, which bordered our path, were of the rich- 
est colors; and the little stone bridges, by which we 
crossed the stream at intervals, were built of these 
curiously tinted rocks, and were studies for a painter. 
All the way, except at the very highest levels, where 
nothing but the white reindeer-moss could grow, we 
found the greatest variety of flowers. We counted 
nearly twenty kinds in a few miles. Ever since we 
began posting, we had been in ecstasies over the flow- 
ers. We found nearly all our common spring wild 
flowers — buttercups, dandelions, wild geraniums, hare- 
bells, violets, not only blue, but tricolor; fields purple 
with pansies, yellow with buttercups, white with ox- 
eyed daisies; the exquisite, little Linnoea Borealis trail- 
ing over moss-covered rocks and stumps, and several 
varieties of ferns. We gathered great handfuls of the 
beauties, and threw them away reluctantly as they 
faded; never ceasing to regret that we had neither 
facilities for pressing, nor time for painting them. 

We reached Jerkinn, and wishing to go farther for 
the night, asked for horses to be furnished us at once. 
As the house is on a steep hill, the horses were taken 
out and the carriages left standing at the foot. Some 
of us remained here while the others went up to the 
house, curious to see the wood-carvings and paintings, 
executed by a son of the station-keeper, which are 
mentioned in Murray. 

We were detained some time, as another party had 



OVER THE DOVREFJELD. 



125 



arrived shortly before us, and had the first claim for 
horses. Meanwhile, sitting in the carriage, we found 
ourselves in a swarm of mosquitoes, as we had stopped 
near swampy ground. I think it was the only time we 
saw them in Norway. 

From Jerkinn onwards for about a mile the road is 
up hill; and from the highest point which we attain, 
4,594 feet above sea level, we obtain a fine view 
of Sneehattan, one of the highest mountains in Nor- 
way. Its summit is 7,714 feet above the sea, and it 
rises 3,500 feet from its base. Saddle horses may be 
hired at Jerkinn to the base of the mountains; but the 
remainder of the ascent must be performed on foot. 
The whole excursion occupies about twelve hours. 
There is a glacier on the summit which flows into a 
little lake, and the view is very extensive.* Another 
excursion may be made from Jerkinn to a saeter, which 
is like a Swiss chalet in the mountains, so says Mr. 
Bennett. He also says that this was formerly a very 
good station; but the house is old and not kept in 
proper repair. People have complained of the rain 
leaking in, and of general discomfort. 

The greater part of the way to Kongsvold, seven 
miles from Jerkinn, was a steep descent, through mag- 
nificent scenery. Between the stations we pass the 
boundary of the diocese — there are only six in Nor- 
way. Jerkinn is in the Christiania-Stift. A bishopric 
must be no sinecure in this country. 

* Sneehattan was first ascended by Professor Esmark of Christiania, who 
estimated the height at eight thousand one hundred and fifteen English feet. 
He states that its immense mass is almost wholly composed of mica slate. 
Professor Forbes describes the ascent of this mountain, in his work on "Nor- 
way and Its Glaciers." 



126 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



We reached Kongsvold about 10 P. M., and found 
a large, clean house, with the prettiest sitting-room 
we had seen, nicely furnished with sofas, rocking chairs 
and tables, white muslin curtains at the windows, and 
a stand of beautiful house plants — several kinds of 
geraniums, covered with great masses of blossoms — 
while a dish of ferns and wild-flowers adorned one 
of the tables. 

The party who had anticipated us at Jerkinn had 
probably taken the best rooms here; for the only ones 
they showed us were two, with two beds in each, which 
were in another building, over the dairy. When we 
asked for more, they took us through the kitchen, and 
said that they would give up to us a little room ad- 
joining, one of the family sleeping-rooms. 

Miss M. and I took this, and the others occupied 
the quarters over the dairy. Passing through the 
kitchen, I noticed on the large cooking stove an im- 
mense kettle of something white, and supposing it to 
be grod, I asked them to give us some for supper. It 
proved to be rice milk, very nicely made and flavored, 
with almonds and currants in it, and we all enjoyed it, 
eaten with sugar and cream. We had a charming open 
fire in the chimney place, but we were too tired to sit 
up long. 

The pretty girl who showed us our room spoke a 
little English, to our surprise, saying, "I am sorry to 
give you so poor a room, but we have no other." I 
assured her that we should be very comfortable; but 
we had our doubts about it when we found how hot 
and stuffy the room was, having been open all day 
into the hot kitchen, and with no ventilation. The 
windows would not open, were not made to open; and 



OVER THE D VREFJELD . 



127 



an accidental fracture in a pane had been carefully 
stuffed with rags. We pulled these out, but the aper- 
ture was very small. 

"We must break it ! " said Miss M. 

"Let us ask them first; window glass may be a hard 
thing to procure here." 

I opened the door, and tried to explain. Supposing 
the room was not sufficiently air tight, the woman 
brought fresh rags to stuff in. She was horrified when 
Miss M. made signs of smashing the window, and must 
have thought us crazy; but I found that I could work 
out the pieces of glass without breaking them, and I 
left them where they could be replaced, if the occu- 
pants of the room desired it. 

Next morning we went into the dairy — a large room 
lined with shelves, on which stood wooden tubs of 
milk, covered with thick cream. A churn, with a 
dasher, had just been used, and pails of buttermilk 
stood by, and a great tub of sour milk, ready for the 
pigs; while in the next room they were scalding the 
milk for cheese, in great set-kettles. They were mak- 
ing several kinds of cheese — white or curd cheese, yel- 
low, and brown; the last is said to be made of goats' 
milk; it is sweetened, and seemed to be mixed with 
fresh cream. I tasted some from a wooden trencher in 
which it was standing, and liked it better than when 
dry and pressed into blocks. It was very rich, and 
not bad if one fancies sweet cheese. I could not find 
out what gave it the brown color; perhaps brown sugar 
is mixed with it, though we saw no sugar in Norway 
that I remember, except the white, beet-root sugar in 
little, square blocks. 

At this station they kept about thirty cows, which 



128 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



were brought home at night and driven off to pasture 
in the morning, just as on our New England farms; 
they may have had more at saeters on the mountain 
pastures. 

We saw no little children about, this morning; they 
ought to have been still in bed, for they were up and 
wide awake at eleven o'clock the night before; the 
kitchen was full of people and there must have been a 
supper in prospect of the rice milk we found so nice — 
" Reis grod " they called it. 

We drove on, a stage of ten miles, to Drivstuen, the 
last of the " Fjeldstuen," and a very comfortable sta- 
tion. The excellent road here was constructed in 1850 
and 185 1, and takes the place of an old road which, 
according to the German guide-book, " ging unauf- 
horlich bergauf und bergab," and, as Mr. Bennett says, 
went over the Vaarsti, "a most tremendous hill, as 
steep as the roof of a house." We pass in sight of the 
old road over the hill, and confess that his comparison 
is not exaggerated; though house-roofs, as everybody 
knows, have varying degrees of steepness. " It was 
as dangerous as it was difficult," adds Nielsen, "es- 
pecially in winter, when avalanches were of frequent 
occurrence. When King Christian V. travelled this 
route, in 1685, he was the only one who ventured to 
ride; while his whole suite got down from their horses. 
When his son, Frederick IV., in 1704, passed over the 
Vaarsti, he did not venture to remain in his cariole, 
but traversed the whole way on foot. Since then, 
Christian VI., in 1733, Frederick the Sixth (as crown 
prince), in 1788, and Carl Johann, in 181 5, have passed 
this way." What a pity he does not tell us how they 
behaved ! 



OVER THE DO VREFJELD. 129 



From Drivstuen to Rise, a distance of eight miles, 
the road follows the river, and the scenery continues 
to be very fine. We got out to examine a singular 
gorge, through which the stream rushes, lashing itself 
into a white fury against the brown boulders which op- 
pose its passage. The rocks come so nearly together 
in one place that " a person can hop across " the chasm, 
says Mr. Bennett; " but the water is of immense depth." 
The gentlemen examined it closely, but decided that 
the rocks were too slippery to make the attempt a safe 
thing, taking into consideration, also, the depth be^ 
neath, with its rocky walls. The sides of the gorge 
curve inward, as if worn away by the gradual action 
of water foaming and dashing against them; and 
the whole thing is extremely picturesque — finer even 
than the Sondre Slettefossen, we decided. It is 
called "Maagalaupe" — leap of the stomach; certain- 
ly an extraordinary name. The old road passed the 
Drivstukleve, a succession of steep hills, up and down, 
for about three miles, which the new road happily 
avoids. If these roads were only more effectually pro- 
tected by a stone parapet, or even a wooden railing, 
instead of the stone posts at varying distances, one 
could ask nothing better. 

Rise was not so nice a station as the two preceding 
ones (" quarters not of the best, but civil people," says 
Bennett). They had no meat or fish, but gave us a 
lunch of bread and butter, milk, eggs, and pancakes. 
We should have done better to start earlier from 
Kongsvold, and go on for dinner to Aune, about 
seven miles beyond Rise. This is in the broad, fertile 
valley of Opdal. The Driva turns off here for its des- 
tination in the fjord, and a road follows it to Sun- 
6* 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



dalsoren, about forty miles, whence one may go by 
boat to Christiansund. 

The house at Aune (or Ovne) is large and comfort- 
able, painted white, with a porch in front, seated in 
which, by a little table, several travellers were drink- 
ing beer — a spectacle which reminded us of Germany, 
for it is rare to see people partaking of refreshments 
out of doors, so far north. For the benefit of tall 
people, seeking a comfortable place to spend the night, 
Mr. Bennett suggests that the beds here are the long- 
est on the whole road. That is not much to say, as 
we had found by sad experience. We did not try these, 
for we had many miles yet to drive; but we went in to 
see the stock of carved wood, boxes, spoons, etc., of 
which there is a fine assortment. Some of the articles 
were very nicely carved, but the prices seemed high, and 
we bought little. We found afterwards that they were 
moderate compared with prices at Throndhjem and 
Bergen, and regretted our fit of economy. 

This was Friday. We were anxious to reach Thron- 
dhjem the next day, taking the train from Storen in 
the afternoon. To do this comfortably, we had de- 
cided that we must get as far as Bjerkager for the night, 
about twenty miles beyond Aune. 

Near Aune is the church of Opdal, and the pastor's 
house, and there was a number of houses in the vicin- 
ity. The region lies about sixteen hundred feet above 
sea level, and is very pleasant. Good ptarmigan shoot- 
ing may be found in the neighborhood. 

The next station, Stuen, is described as " a new 
house, with excellent accommodation, good food and 
white bread, but very dear." The situation is very 
pretty; but the rooms were small, and the place was 



OVER THE DOVREFJELD. 



not very clean. This is about eight miles from Aune. 
Austbjorg, seven miles farther, is a poor station. So 
says Bennett, and I am unable to report a favorable 
impression. From this place to Bjerkager, much of the 
new road has been blasted through the rock, and winds 
along the precipitous sides of the Orkedal, often six 
or seven hundred feet above the river. A cross, cut in 
the rock, marks the place where one of the workmen 
engaged in the construction of the road, in 1858, lost 
his footing and was dashed to pieces on the rocks 
below. The scenery all along this valley is magnifi- 
cent, and reminded us a little of the gorge of Rusten, 
as we were passing through it at the same be- 
witching time of clear, soft twilight. It was nearly 
11 P. M. when we reached Bjerkager, described by 
Bennett as "a very fair station, civil people, and cheap." 

The house was an old one, and impressed us as 
being very dirty, as we drove through the stable yard 
and got down at the .entrance. We Were very tired 
and ravenously hungry, and ready to put up with al- 
most anything. But they were full. The guest-room 
was occupied; the beds all engaged. We could have 
"spise, strax"; but we must go on to the next station 
for the night. 

They gave us a little room to ourselves, and got us 
tea and bread and butter; but kept us waiting some 
time, both for that and the horses. We drove on to 
Garlid, through lovely scenery; forests of pine and 
birch, and along the sides of the mountains, whence 
we looked down on wooded slopes and fertile fields. 
The air grew a little damp, with a greater chilliness 
than we had experienced; perhaps we felt it more from 
being so tired and sleepy. It was really a painful effort 



132 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



to keep awake. We passed several wagons loaded with 
furniture and beds; the horses were unfastened, and 
resting by the wayside; the people sleeping. They 
seemed a little like gypsies; but may have been, only 
moving from one place to another, perhaps going to 
the seaboard to emigrate to America. This lovely 
twilight reminded us of the passage in the prophecy 
of Isaiah: "The light shall be neither clear nor dark; 
but it shall come to pass that at evening time it shall 
be light," and one thought of Montgomery's hymn. 
There cannot be a lovelier image of a peaceful old age 
— resting after the brightness of " Life's little day" is 
over, waiting for the clearer light beyond — than these 
exquisite northern twilights. 

Garlid is about eight miles beyond Bjerkager, and 
we arrived there between 12 and 1 A. M. The house 
stands back from the road, at the summit of a grassy 
slope, and commands a pretty view of the valley. 
Everything was still as death. This was the first 
place, since Toftemoen, where we had found people 
asleep. We roused them soon; a man took charge of 
the horses; a woman gave us rooms, and made up our 
beds with clean linen. There were two houses; the 
one where the family lived and the cooking was done 
being quite separate from that intended for guests. 
There were five rooms, upstairs, three containing two 
beds each; but you went through one to another (an 
arrangement always disagreeable), and one of them 
was already occupied. Here, as at Holaker, Will ex- 
perienced the inconvenience of being the single gentle- 
man of the party. 

He was resigned to the allotment of a little room, 
through which John and Jennie must pass, and the 



OVER THE DOVREFJELD. 



133 



gentleman who had already retired, but found dif- 
ficulty in persuading the landlady to prepare his bed. 
She had made up those in the three double rooms; 
we were six; there were six beds; why could we not 
be suited ? She came to Miss M. and delivered a 
long harangue, of which we only made out the gen- 
eral purport. Why could not her " mand " sleep in 
that unoccupied bed ? I have no doubt she found 
us very unreasonable; but she yielded to Will's im- 
portunity at last, and made up his bed in the little 
thoroughfare. 

We slept late next morning to make up for our 
long journey, as we had only fifteen miles to accom- 
plish to reach the railway at Storen. While break- 
fasting in the pleasant guest-room, on excellent grod, 
eggs, coffee and cream, we amused ourselves with 
looking over the " Dag-bog," in which a recent passer, 
a Frenchman, had entered a complaint of the dusty 
road between Garlid and Engen. Did he expect the 
station-keeper to send a water-cart over it in advance 
of his cariole ? 

But we remembered his grievance in traversing the 
road; for we suffered more from dust and heat than 
we had since our first two days of posting. 

We were out in the hottest part of the day, start- 
ing at noon, and stopping only to change horses at 
Praesthus (which Bennett calls " small but clean sta- 
tion," but we found it very dirty), we pushed on to 
Engen, the southern terminus of the Throndhjem & 
Storen Railway, arriving about 3 P. M. 

The station-house, or hotel as it is here called, 
is quite near the railway station, and after we had 
removed our baggage, the carriages were taken there, 



134 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



to be put on board the train. The house seemed 
noisy and dirty. We ordered dinner and a room 
where some of us could rest; others went out for a 
walk, and climbed up a hill by the wayside into a 
little hanging wood which overlooked the village. 
Our dinner was a disappointment; we had tough beef 
warmed over in greasy gravy, and the pancakes were 
also tough. Afterwards we sat outside the windows, 
in the shade of the house, and listened to the drollest 
conversation I ever heard, between a stout Norsk 
gentleman, equipped as a sportsman, and a friend 
he had encountered here. I would not have believed 
that a conversation of which we understood not a 
word could be so amusing; but the stout gentleman 
was a stammerer, and of all funny things, stammering 
in Norsk seemed the funniest. He was so jolly about 
it, withal, not seeming to mind his impediment in 
the least, that we had no scruples in deriving silent 
amusement from it. 

The train left for Throndhjem at 7 P. M. When 
we gathered up our traps to go over to the station, 
a parcel of umbrellas was missing. No one could 
remember taking it from the carriage, the people at 
the house knew nothing about it, and we could not 
bok in the trille, for that and the gig were neatly 
packed on the platform car, and covered with canvas 
to protect them from dust or rain. We hoped to 
find the umbrellas all right, on reaching Throndhjem; 
but they never turned up, and we could not decide 
whether they had been appropriated at the hotel or 
taken from the carriage at the station. This package 
of umbrellas was the only thing we lost, in all our 
travels in Norway. 



OVER THE DOVREFJELD. 



135 



We were two hours and a half running the thirty 
miles between Storen and Throndhjem, including four 
stops by the way. The scenery was pretty and the 
cars comfortable; but we found this slow rate of 
progress very tiresome. As we got near the sea- 
board the season seemed more advanced; people 
were cutting grass, and peas and strawberries were in 
blossom. 

We arrived about 9.35 P. M., and were surprised to 
find no hotel omnibuses, no cabs, no horses to draw 
them; only porters, with hand carts for luggage. We 
engaged one of these, and started for Hotel Britannia 
(recommended by Bennett and our friends in Flor- 
ence), in spite of the friendly warning of a gentleman 
in the garb of an English clergyman — who was him- 
self stopping there, and had walked to the station 
to meet friends, who did not arrive — that we should 
find no vacant rooms. We wished to try, at least, 
and the clergyman was so kind as to escort us; 
though he would have been superhuman if he had 
not appeared pleased when his warning proved cor- 
rect. Where should we try next — at the Hotel d'Ang- 
leterre, the Bellevue, Victoria or St. Olaf? "The 
two latter are remarkably comfortable," says Bennett; 
"but the St. Olaf is small." That settled the ques- 
tion in favor of the Victoria, and we turned to the 
rightabout and retraced our steps down the long main 
street of Throndhjem. 

It seemed odd to be wandering about the streets 
of a strange city, on foot, after ten o'clock at night, 
yet in broad daylight; so that we could not realize 
the lateness of the hour; and the oddest thing was 
that everything was so quiet. At Hotel Victoria we 



136 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



fortunately found rooms and our wanderings ceased. 
Some of the luggage had been left in the trille, and 
the gentlemen, guided by a little boy from the hotel, 
started for the station to procure it, or have both 
vehicles brought to the house. They came back, 
after awhile, themselves dragging the trille (the gig 
had been locked up in the yard of the freight depart- 
ment, but the trille happened to be outside), which 
they ventured to bring away, in spite of the remon- 
strances of the keeper, who had no authority to give 
the carriages up before Monday, and threatened the 
owners with legal proceedings for taking off their 
own property. 



IX. 



THRONDHJEM. 



E slept late, Sunday morning-, and breakfasted 



* * about eleven o'clock; all but Will, who pos- 
sessed unlimited capacities for sleep, and could al- 
ways make up for lost time. He did not make his 
appearance until dinner, which was served at 2 P. M. 
Here we met the pleasant Irish major and his wife, 
with their young lady friend, who had arrived early 
that morning on the steamer from Molde — the same 
steamer on which we were all going northward in a 
couple of days. The Cornell student, they said, had 
found quarters at the "St. Olaf's." Here also ap- 
peared their friend Dr. S , the English clergyman 

whom we had encountered at the station the evening 
before. He had transferred his quarters from the 
Britannia, and informed us after dinner that the Vic- 
toria had a far better table. 

Our kind hostess, Mme. Quillfeldt, was unwearied 
in her exertions for the comfort of her guests; now 
superintending the preparations in the kitchen, then 
carving the meats at a side table, and assisting her 
maidens in waiting upon the guests; while her stout 
husband sat at the head of the table, and was served, 
with the rest. " I should like to put an apron on him 
and set him carving," murmured Miss. M. But this is 




138 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



the Norway fashion; more in the style of Abraham 
and Sarah, who "obeyed Abraham, calling him lord," 
than could be found in any other Christian country in 
Europe. 

Herr Quillfeldt had a wholesale and retail wine 
business on his hands, and wisely left the manage- 
ment of the hotel to his delicate-looking but ener- 
getic wife. 

We had an excellent dinner — the fare seemed 
sumptuous after our milk-and-eggs and flad-brod diet, 
crossing the Dovrefjeld — boiled salmon, boiled ham, 
roast beef and lamb, vegetables, nice wheat bread, 
delicate puddings and pastry, good wine and beer. 
There were several Norwegian gentlemen at table; 
among others, our stammering acquaintance from 
Storen. When the ladies retired, all the gentlemen 
rose and bowed. Coffee was served, afterward, in 
Mme. Quillfeldt's little parlor, or sent to our rooms, 
if we preferred. She had a piano and books, and the 
large windows were filled with blooming house plants, 
in greater variety than we had yet seen. Altogether, 
the Victoria was a very cosey, comfortable place, and 
we felt thankful that the Britannia had been full. 

In the interval between our late breakfast and early 
dinner, we had been writing our usual Sunday letters 
to friends at home, while John had taken a stroll about 
the town, and attempted to visit the cathedral; but 
he was not allowed to enter, as it was only open for 
service on Sunday. 

We went to the afternoon service, which was held 
in a part of the building as yet unrestored, separated 
by a wooden partition from the octagonal shrine. The 
stone walls had been whitewashed, and there were 



THRONDHJEM. 



139 



wooden pews, painted blue, and a high organ loft, 
with seats for the choir and additional pews, in a 
large gallery. Behind the preacher was a plaster cast 
of Thorwaldsen's " Christ," and figures of the apos- 
tles, by a Norwegian artist, were ranged along the 
walls. These statues are the work of an artist little 
known out of Norway — Hans Michaelsen; and were ex- 
ecuted by him, by order of King Carl Johan, who pre- 
sented them to the cathedral. He was born in 1789, 
in a remote village, in the province of Throndhjem. 
His talents in wood carving procured him the means 
of obtaining instruction in modelling, at Stockholm, 
and his progress indicated uncommon ability. In 1820 
he was sent to study under Thorwaldsen, at Rome. 
Here he executed several important works, among 
others the statues of the twelve apostles. In spite 
of his high reputation, he was unable to support him- 
self as an artist; and, after many trials, he retired, 
discouraged and infirm, to his peasant's home and 
life. After the lapse of many years an attempt was 
made, by means of a national subscription, to rescue 
him from this half-existence; a series of orders were 
secured for him, and a position free from care. He 
produced a number of works; but his strength was 
gone, and they were not equal in merit to his earlier 
productions. He died in Christiania, in 1859. 

After service we strolled through the pretty church- 
yard, as many others were doing, and were touched 
by the loving remembrance shown in the fresh gar- 
lands on the graves. Later in the day, my brother 
saw here the funeral of a sailor. The soft singing of 
a choir in the belfry tower was a part of the service, 
reminding us of the story of Thorwaldsen's funeral. 



140 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



We visited the cathedral on Monday (it is open 
between the hours of 12 and 2 P. M.), and were 
much interested in the traces of the old buikling, and 
in the modern work of restoration. Here stood the 
little wooden Church of St. Clement (now the Chapel 
of St. Clement occupies the site), built by King Olaf 
himself before A. D. 1030; and afterward another wooden 
church was erected near it, by his son Magnus, on the 
spot where St. Olaf was buried, after the fatal battle 
of Stiklestad, the place having been revealed, accord- 
ing to the legend, by a spring bursting from the spot. 
More prosaic historians say that the king's body was 
thrown into a well, already existing. (However that 
may be, the well is there, for we saw it ourselves.) 
Harald Hardrada, who was half-brother of the saint 
and successor to Magnus, built, or began to build, 
a larger church, of stone, upon the same site. Of this 
church, only a few remains can be traced. It was re- 
built and enlarged by Bishop Eistein (made archbishop 
of Throndhjem by Nicholas Breakspeare, 1161-1188), 
and became the Metropolitan church of Norway. 

Archbishop Sigurd, in 1248, undertook the building 
of the western wing, which was finished in 1300. At 
this time, we are told, the building was three hundred 
and forty-six feet long by one hundred and eighty-four 
wide; the west front, with a chapel at each corner, had 
a width of one hundred and fifty feet, there were nu- 
merous flying buttresses and pinnacles, and five towers, 
each with a spire, the central one rising to a height 
of two hundred and fifty feet. 

The cathedral is built of the soft, gray stone found 
on the fjelds; a material easily worked and of a lovely 
color, but very liable to injury by fire. Soon after its 



THRONDHJEM. 



141 



completion it suffered to some extent by fire, but was 
probably soon repaired. After a second conflagration, 
in 1432, the church was not fully restored; and a third, 
in 1 53 1, injured it still further. Later, in 1718 and 1719, 
it suffered from destructive fires. After the Reforma- 
tion and the confiscation of Church property, there was 
less interest in the work of restoration and less ability 
to carry it forward; and it is easy to understand how 
the cathedral came into its present ruinous state. 

That part of the transept built by Eistein is in pure 
Norman style; but the eastern part, built by his suc- 
cessors, belongs to a later period of Gothic architecture. 
Most of the latter was destroyed by the alterations in 
the sixteenth century, with the exception of the octag- 
onal tomb-house, or shrine of St. Olaf, in beautiful 
pointed Gothic, which is now nearly restored. It rises 
in two divisions, covered by a dome-like roof, with an 
open belfry above, and is separated from the choir by 
a screen of columns supporting arches. 

Under this dome stood formerly the high altar 
and a richly adorned silver shrine, containing the re- 
mains of the saint. The body was enclosed in three 
coffins, the inner one of silver being enclosed in two 
wooden ones, the outer set with gold and silver orna- 
ments and precious stones. Pilgrims from all parts 
of Europe came to the shrine of St. Ol&f, and churches 
were erected under his patronage, even in Constantino- 
ple. There were two in London, and a street named 
after him, now contracted to Tooley Street. 

The church in Constantinople was dedicated to St. 
Olaf by the Varangian Guard, who had won a battle 
by his assistance, and thus fulfilled a vow to him. 

Adam of Bremen, who visited Throndhjem in the 



142 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



eleventh century, says, ''Miracles are daily worked at 
his tomb, and the most distant nations flock to his 
shrine to participate in the merits of that blessed 
saint." 

Snorre Sturleson relates many incidents of miracu- 
lous cures at the shrine of St. Olaf, and in answer to 
appeals for his aid, even in distant places. People 
whose tongues had been cut out in the brutal reprisals 
of war, or by despotic masters, received speech; crip- 
ples were restored to the use of their limbs, and many 
blind received sight. One of the iatter, a woman, 
came on a pilgrimage from Sweden to the shrine in 
Throndhjem, and was led into the church on St. Olaf's 
day to hear mass. Before the service was ended she 
saw with both eyes, and returned home with great joy, 
praising God and King Olaf, the saint. 

After the Reformation the shrine was plundered by 
Danish Lutherans, in 1 541 , who left the body in the 
plainest coffin, carrying off the silver one, weighing 
over three thousand ounces, and the ornaments of 
gold and jewels. Whether or not the saint defended 
his property, it is gratifying to learn that the ship, car- 
rying the greater part of the plunder, foundered at sea, 
and the rest was seized by robbers on its overland 
journey. The body was again captured by Swedes 
and carried into their country, but restored in 1568 and 
buried in the cathedral. 

In a little tower close by we were shown the holy 
well where St. Olaf was first buried. It is designed 
to have a marble statue of Thorwaldsen's " Christ " in 
the place where the high altar formerly stood. 

The transept and part of the choir, where service 
is performed, are shut off by a temporary wall from the 



THR ONDHJEM. 



H3 



rest of the building, and as one wanders about through 
the different parts of the cathedral, it is difficult to form 
an idea of the appearance of the whole as it will be 
when thrown into one. The south wing is partly 
in ruins, but both here and in the north wing there 
are interesting chapels, of pure Norman architecture, 
with the zigzag ornamentation one sees at Durham 
and Winchester. A beautiful round arch, forming 
the entrance to one of these chapels, was discovered 
in 1847. 

The west wing, with its two towers, lies in ruins. 
There was formerly over the entrance in the western 
fagade a great rose window, which has now wholly 
disappeared. Of the numerous images of the saints 
which adorned this entrance only two or three remain. 
Under a trefoil arch, supported by grouped columns, 
stands the figure of an aged bishop, crowned with the 
mitre, and leaning on a staff, which we fancied might 
be either Eistein or Sigurd. Some of the capitals are 
clustered heads, too ruinous to allow one to decide 
whether they are meant for angels or demons; and 
now and then a quaint figure projects from a railing. 

Among other monumental tablets we noticed that 
of Bishop Pontoppidan, a famous grammarian, and 
ancestor of a more famous naturalist, the Bishop of 
Bergen, a century later. Born on the island of Funen, 
in 1616, he died bishop of Throndhjem in 1678. His 
book, " Grammatica Danica," published in 1668, is the 
first attempt at a scientific analysis of the language, 
already much changed from the old Norsk as it is 
preserved in the Icelandic sagas. 

The Chapel of St. Clement, to the north of the 
choir, has been fully restored, from funds left many 



144 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



years ago by a citizen, after whom it is now called. 
It is heated by a furnace and used for service in 
winter. The octagon is nearly completed, and the 
work of restoration is going on with considerable 
energy. The sum of one hundred thousand specie 
dollars has already been collected, and all visitors 
are expected to contribute by purchasing photo- 
graphs of the cathedral. 

Several of the old kings were buried in this enclos- 
ure, and four kings were crowned here during the mid- 
dle ages. The laws enacted in 1814 (when the new 
constitution was adopted) provide that the coronation 
of the king shall take place at Throndhjem; King Carl 
Johan in 1818, Carl XV. in i860, and Oscar II. in 1873 
have accordingly been crowned here. I cannot ascer- 
tain the precise time when the name of the town was 
changed from Nidaros to Throndhjem; but the ety- 
mology (Throne home) indicates that it was about the 
time it became a royal city. Olaf Tryggvesson is called 
its founder. He selected the site with wisdom, as a 
safe harbor and depot for grain, and a favorable place 
for ship-building. Olaf was famous for his ships, the 
Long Serpent being the largest and finest ever seen 
in the North. His palace was less wonderful — a great 
building of squared timbers, without the large win- 
dows which make the old timber houses so cheerful 
to-day, and with no chimney, but a hole' in the roof 
for the smoke to escape from. Chimneys and glass 
windows were not introduced in Norway until seventy 
years later. 

Carlyle, following the Edda of Snorre Sturleson, 
gives a graphic sketch of Olaf's early life, from his 
birth, while his mother was flying through track- 



THR ONDHJEM. 



145 



less forests, to escape the murderers of her husband 
(Tryggve, grandson of Harald Harfager); his viking 
life in strange countries — Russia, Normandy, England; 
his conversion and baptism by a pious monk in the 
Scilly Islands; his exploits with Sven in England, 
breaking down London Bridge; his victorious struggle 
for his kingdom, and earnest efforts to convert it to' 
Christianity (" in about two years Norway was all gone 
over with a rough harrow of conversion ") ; his short 
reign — less than ten years; his glorious death, sinking 
beneath his shield in the dark waters of the Baltic — 
"a shining figure still, to us; the wildly beautifullest 
man, in body and in soul, that one has ever heard of 
in the North." * 

Snorre Sturleson's description of the king, in the 
Saga of Olaf Tryggveson, thus depicts his agility: 
" He was stronger, more alert and nimbler than any 
man of his time. He could climb the rock Smalser- 
horn and fix his shield on top of it." (" Smalserhorn" 
may be Romsdalshorn or the cliff Hornelen, north of 
Bergen, two thousand eight hundred Norsk feet in 
height, sheer descent to the sea; probably the latter.) 
" He could walk outside the boat on the oars when 
the men were rowing. He would play with three 
darts at once, and always keep two up. He was 
ambidexter, using his weapon with both hands, and 
could throw two darts at once. He excelled all his 
men in shooting with the bow, and in swimming had 
no equal." His proficiency in this last accomplish- 
ment led to the belief that he was not really drowned 
when he sank in the Baltic, but was wandering over 

* " Early Kings of Norway." 

7 



146 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



Europe in disguise and would by and by reappear in 
Norway and come to his own again. 

St. Olaf was as remarkable a man as his cousin 
and predecessor, Olaf Tryggveson. Like him, he was 
the son of a murdered father, and was brought up in 
seclusion by his step-father, Sigurd. He started at 
the age of twelve, with a little fleet, on his viking 
career; visited Normandy and England, and there prob 
ably acquired his intense adherence to the Christian 
faith. He returned to Norway about 1015, and, after 
a few years of struggle, established his kingdom. 
Then came a second royal progress, and forced con- 
vulsions not a few. St. Olaf's "harrow" was rougher 
than Tryggveson's. Of his sincerity there can be no 
doubt; but as little doubt that his methods of conver- 
sion were barbarous. It seems probable that the im- 
partial severity with which he enforced his laws, 
punishing equally both great and small, was one of the 
chief causes of rebellion. The Danish king, Knut the 
Great, who claimed Norway, and demanded tribute of 
Olaf, which was scornfully refused, stirred up rebellion 
among the people, sailing along the coast and hold- 
ing "Things" among them, and finally, returning to 
England, left his nephew Hakon vice-regent. Flying 
from Hakon's forces, after defeat and desertion by his 
people, Olaf took refuge in Sweden, and then in Rus- 
sia whence he returned two years later, after the death 
of Hakon. He was influenced by a dream, in which 
Olaf Tryggveson appeared to admonish and encourage 
him. "He had no sooner appeared than multitudes 
flocked to his standard; but he rejected all who did not 
comply with the one condition of service — the recep- 
tion of baptism. The helmets and shields of all who 



THRONDHJEM. 



147 



fought on his side were distinguished by a white cross, 
and the battle-cry was to be 'Forward ! Christ's men ! 
Crossmen ! Kingsmen!'" * 

With this army, of about three thousand men, he 
fought the fatal battle of Stiklestad.f 

When the army was drawn up in fighting order, 
and after religious services had been observed and 
heroic skalds sung by Olaf's troops, there was still 
some delay while the Bonders were arranging their 
forces, and the king, resting his head on the knee of 
Finn Arveson, his trustiest man, fell asleep. As the 
enemy approached, Finn awaked him. " Oh, why 
hast thou awakened me from such a dream ? " said 
Olaf, in a deeply solemn tone. " I dreamed that there 
rose a ladder here, reaching up to very heaven. I 
had climbed and climbed, and got to the very last step, 
and shouldst have entered there, hadst thou given 
me another moment." " King, I doubt thou art fey,' 
said Finn. " I do not like that dream." 

The date of this battle is fixed by a total eclipse 
of the sun, which is recorded as taking place shortly 
after it began; Olaf's death occurring during the pe- 
riod of obscuration. The Saxon Chronicle fixes it 
at July 29, 1030. 

Snorre Sturleson insinuates that St. Olaf's only 
title to sanctity was that "he was slain by his own 
subjects in his own kingdom." To fall in battle in 
one's own dominions was the favorite wish of the 
old pagan kings of the North. A prince or chief who 

* Maclear, "Apostles of Mediaeval Europe." 

f Stiklestad is not far from Steen Kjaer, on the Throndhjem Fjord. 
A cross marks the spot where Olaf fell, and there is an ancient stone 
church. 



h8 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



fell on his own estates was called " heilagr," or holy; 
if he fell elsewhere, " unheilagr," or unholy. Harald 
Hardrada, who was killed at the battle of Stamford 
Bridge, " could not be called holy," says Snorre, "be- 
cause he fell while in the act of invading a foreign 
country." 

Perhaps Olaf did more for Christianity by his death 
than by his life. No sooner was his saintship estab- 
lished (by the remarkable preservation of his remains, 
found unchanged in 1098, and miracles attributed to 
him) than his cruelties were forgotten; and such was 
the reverence paid him as a hero and martyr, that 
he might almost be said to have filled the place of 
the ancient idols in the affections of the nation. 

Sven, the son of Knut, governed Norway so des- 
potically that the Bonders sent to the Russian court 
for Magnus, the son of Olaf, and welcomed him as 
sovereign. Magnus is the first of the name among 
the Norse kings, and the story of his christening is 
peculiar. He was the son of a serving-maid at Olaf's 
court (Queen Astrida had no sons), and at the time 
of his birth he seemed so puny and feeble that it 
was thought needful to baptize him at once. The 
king was asleep, and no one dared to waken him; so 
Sigvat, the skald, poured water over the babe and 
called him Magnus, after Charlemagne. The Norse- 
men believed that by giving a child the name of some 
great man, especially one of his forefathers, the soul 
of the name-father was transfused into the child. 

When Magnus returned he was accompanied by 
Queen Astrida, as well as his own mother; and both 
were treated with honor at his court, though Alfhilda 
held a subordinate place. 



THR ONDHJEM. 



149 



He was called Magnus the Good, and in his reign 
the law book was written, called the " Gray Goose" 
(probably from the color of the parchment on which 
it was written), one of the most curious relics of the 
middle ages. It treats of weights and measures, police 
of markets and sea havens, inns for travellers, wages 
of servants and support of them in sickness, provision 
for the poor, protection of women, illegitimate children 
and domestic animals from injury, roads, bridges, va- 
grants, beggars, etc. 

After a reign of twelve years, Magnus was followed 
by his uncle Harald Hardrada, half-brother to St. Olaf, 
who had fought at the battle of Stiklestad and been 
wounded at the age of fifteen, and had gone back to 
King Yaroslaf in Russia. St. Olaf and the Russian king 
had married sisters, Astrida and Ingegerda, daughters 
of Swedish Olaf. 

Harald is another striking figure among the early 
kings. From Yaroslaf's court, at Novgorod, he went 
to Constantinople, became captain of the Varangian 
Guard of Norsemen, not long established there (having 
been sent by Yaroslaf's father, Vladimir the Great, to 
the Greek emperor, with the advice to keep them oc- 
cupied), visited the Holy Land, undertook expeditions 
against Moorish pirates in the Mediterranean, and after 
other romantic adventures returned to the Russian 
court, married the Princess Elisif (or Elizabeth), and 
made his way to Norway with much booty, which he 
shared with Magnus, when he found the latter disposed 
,to yield him, peaceably, half of the kingdom. 

His death at the battle of Stamford Bridge, by an 
arrow wound in the throat, deprived Norway of a good 
sovereign; though his discipline of refractory Bonders, 



150 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



as well as his treatment of enemies, had earned him the 
title of " Hardrada," the stern or severe. Snorre says 
his disposition was like St. Olaf's; "both were men of 
the highest understanding, bold in arms and greedy 
of power and property; of great courage, but not ac- 
quainted with the way of winning the favor of the peo- 
ple; zealous in governing and severe in their revenge." 

He was heroic in aspect; over seven feet in height 
(Snorre calls him five ells, whence Pontoppidan reckons 
it ten feet; but the old ell was less than the present); 
"a handsome man of noble appearance; his hair and 
beard yellow; a short beard and long moustaches, one 
eyebrow somewhat higher than the other; stern and 
severe to his enemies, avenging cruelly all oppositions 
and misdeeds." His skald, Thiodolf sings — 

" Severe alike to friends or foes 
Who dared his royal will oppose; 
Severe in discipline to hold 
His men at arms, wild and bold; 
Severe the Bonders to repress, 
Severe to punish all excess; 
Severe was Harald — but we call 
That just, which was alike to all." 

"What will you give Harald?" said Tostig, when 
1 is brother offered to share the kingdom with him, be- 
fore the battle, of fatal event to both the allies. 

"Seven feet of English earth, more or less, as he 
may be taller than other men," was the reply. 

In the disastrous confusion and flight which followed 
Harald's death his soldiers could not recover the body,, 
and he lies to this day in his unmarked English grave. 

On the south side of the cathedral are some remains 
of the old palace, now occupied as a military and naval 



THRONDHJEM. 



arsenal, where one may see the throne of these old 
kings. Harald Hardrada's son, Olaf Kyrre, founded 
the city of Bergen and built a palace there, which was 
the royal residence for many years. 

At present the Stiftsgaard, or residence of the Stifts 
amtmand (magistrate of the bishopric), serves as a 
royal palace on the rare occasions when the king vis- 
its Throndhjem. It is an immense wooden building 
with wings, built by a private citizen in the last cen- 
tury, and purchased by the Government. This is on 
the corner of the Dronningensgade (Queen Street) 
and the Munkegade (Monk Street), a broad avenue 
running from the cathedral to the shore, its course 
varied by several large, open squares and intersected 
by other wide streets. The Kongensgade (King 
Street) runs from end to end of the city, and with the 
Munkegade divides it like a cross. Parallel to this is 
the Dronningensgade (upon which our hotel is situ- 
ated), and beyond is the Strandgade, where we find 
the principal shops. Nearer yet to the shore lies the 
Sogade, or Sea Street (Water Street, we should call 
it), with warehouses and fishy old buildings. Near the 
custom-house is supposed to be the spot where the 
ancient " Things" were held; where kings were pro- 
posed, elected and proclaimed. In early years this 
was all the coronation required; but after Throndhjem 
became the metropolitan see the kings were often 
crowned in the cathedral. 

Lying in the mouth of the river Nid, the town is 
nearly surrounded by water. The roadstead is not 
considered very safe, as it is unprotected to the 
north and west; and the river is too shallow to admit 
vessels drawing more than ten or twelve feet of water. 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



Throndhjem is a picturesque and cheerful city, with 
its white houses and red roofs; the houses rarely over 
two stories in height, and fronting directly on the 
street, which the wide windows, filled with flowers, 
tend to enliven. The pavements, I am sorry to say, 
are a weariness to the flesh, laid in round cobble-stones 
with a very narrow edge of flagging by way of side- 
walk. The old monks, if they had a pavement like 
this, needed no peas in their shoes. It reminded us of 
the Piazza di Spagna in Rome. 

Horses are seldom seen, and passers are not numer- 
ous. There was a quiet, sleepy air about the place, 
very different from Christiania. 

The public buildings are neither numerous nor strik- 
ing. There is a cathedral school; and in the same 
building are the rooms of the Royal Norwegian Society 
of Learning, founded in 1760. It dates from a time 
when three great scholars were living in Throndhjem: 
Schoning, author of several works on Norwegian his- 
tory and archaeology; the Danish historian, Suhm, and 
Bishop Gunnerus, famous for his researches in natural 
history. The library of the society, containing about 
thirty thousand volumes, is open to the public, as are 
also the collections, some of which, the antiquarian 
and the zoological, are said to be quite interesting. 
Near the cathedral is the institution founded by 
Thomas Angell, called the Angell-stuben. 

In the middle ages there were fourteen churches in 
Throndhjem, besides the cathedral and five monas- 
teries, three of them at a little distance from the city. 
The present Frue-kirke, next in size to the cathedral, 
retains the walls of one of these old churches, which 
was dedicated to the Virgin Mary, perhaps the one 



THR ONDHJEM. 



153 



built by Harald Hardrada. Remains of a church and 
abbey, which belonged to the Benedictines, founded 
by Knut the Great, may still be seen on the rocky 
island, then called Nidarholm, now the Munkholm. 

There, in the seventeenth century, a fortress was 
built out of the ruins of the monastery. This was em- 
ployed as a residence for prisoners of State, and Count 
Peter von Griffenfeld was confined here for eighteen 
years. He was cabinet minister of Christian IV., and 
is said to have been one of the ablest politicians of 
Europe; but he gained the king's enmity by persisting 
in measures for peace, when the king desired war. 
He was accused of treason and condemned to death, 
but at the last moment the sentence was commuted 
to that of imprisonment for life. " This mercy is more 
cruel than death," he exclaimed, upon hearing the 
change of sentence. The walls of his cell were cov- 
ered with inscriptions, written with an iron nail; and 
he is said to have worn a deep channel in the floor by 
pacing up and down; but new planks have been sub- 
stituted for the old ones. He lived but a few months 
after his release. 

The best views of the city are from the walls of 
the former fortress, Christianstein, on the east side, 
not far from the bridge, and from the old road over 
the hills, on the west side. Near the latter place the 
foundations of an old tower were discovered, dur- 
ing excavations made in 1873, called " Sverresborg," 
and dating from the twelfth century. Ruins of a 
nunnery, founded about 1230, are shown near the 
city, and remains of the old monastery of Tutero, 
on a little island in the fjord, about a mile to the 
north of Throndhjem. 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



A quarter of a mile east of the city is Lade, where 
the great Jarl Hakon had his castle, and ruled over 
all the western coast of Norway, while Olaf Tryggve- 
son was in exile. 

This old heathen was the son of Sigurd Jarl (brother- 
in-law to Harald Harfager, being uncle of Hakon Adel- 
stein), who had been entrusted with the government of 
the province of Throndhjem or Thrandia, after Harald 
had subjugated the eight chieftains in as many battles. 
Sigurd stood by King Hakon with real though some- 
what crafty friendship; persuading him to moderate 
measures in his attempts at conversion, and allaying 
the anger of the people, who had burned Hakon's 
churches and killed the Anglo-Saxon priests. After 
Hakon's death in battle, Sigurd was murdered by the 
sons of Erik Bloodaxe; and his son, Hakon Jarl, had 
many a bloody conflict with their forces, before he 
was allowed to reign in peace over his father's terri- 
tories. After Harald Grayskin's death and his broth- 
er's flight, Hakon was invested by the Danish king 
with the government of seven provinces, and assisted 
him with his forces, in war. At one time he was com- 
pelled, with his men, to be baptized, and to receive a 
company of priests on board his ships as missionaries. 
But he watched his chance to escape, set the monks on 
shore, and steered to Gothland, where he landed and 
offered sacrifices to the gods. Returning to Sweden 
he burned his ships and made his way home across 
country, laying everything waste before him. This 
ended his friendship with the Danish Harald; and 
his son Sweyn attacked Hakon with a fleet, but was 
entirely routed; those who escaped the sword perish- 
ing in the waves. Hakon's success was attributed to 



THR ONDHJEM. 



155 



his having sacrificed his youngest son to the family- 
goddess, Thorgerda Horgabrud, whom he consulted 
during the battle, and who would promise victory on 
no other terms. 

He rebuilt the pagan temples, renewed the sac- 
rifices, and restored the old superstitions. Under his 
reign the country was blessed with peace and plenty 
for a time, and this was ascribed to the favor of the 
appeased deities; but, after a few years, his unbridled 
excesses became too outrageous to be borne, and the 
people rose against the tyrant, and welcomed back 
Olaf Tryggveson as a deliverer. Hakon had fled from 
his enemies, and was concealed by his old mistress, 
Thora, with one of his servants, Karker, in a hole 
under the swine sty, covered with earth and litter, 
where he was murdered by this servant, who hoped 
to receive a reward from King Olaf when he brought 
him the head of his enemy; but he lost his own in 
iust recompense.* 

In reading the old sagas, one is constantly reminded 
of old Jewish history; here of David's reception of the 
messenger of Saul's death; by Hakon's sacrifice, of the 
king of Moab who offered his eldest son for a burnt 
offering upon the wall; and the one who built Jericho, 
"laying the foundation in his eldest son, Abiram and 
setting up the gates thereof, in his youngest son Segub." 

Civilization among heathen is much the same in all 
ages and nations; and the Christian heroes of the North 

* Oehlenschlager, the leader of the romantic school in the North, and 
the first to avail himself of the rich materials in the old sagas and ballads, 
has made Hakon Jarl the subject of one of his finest historic dramas, ex- 
tracts from which may be found in Longfellow's "Poets and Poetry of 
Europe," and Howitt's "Literature and Romance of Northern Europe." 



i 5 6 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



were not greatly in advance of King David and his 
mighty men of war. 

Human sacrifices were common, though not frequent. 
At the great national festival at Upsala, every ninth 
year, ninety-nine human victims were offered. Cap- 
tives and slaves were usually selected; but in times of 
imminent danger and distress, fathers sacrificed their 
children, kings their subjects. Sometimes a chief him- 
self was slain, as when Olaf Traetelia, in Wermeland, 
was burned, to appease Odin, during a famine. Aun 
or On, a prince of Sweden, is said to have sacrificed 
nine of his sons, at different periods, to obtain extreme 
old age. These practices continued as late as the 
eleventh century, until the establishment of Christi- 
anity. One can almost forgive the strenuous measures 
of the Olafs and Swedish Erik. 

We found some very attractive shops in Thron- 
dhjem; especially Brun's establishment, where we saw 
beautiful skins of all sorts, eider-feather rugs, reindeer 
mats, feather capes, superb sealskins, Russian sables, 
otter, silver fox, glutton, and squirrel and ermine lin- 
ings. In another shop we found a variety of pretty 
silver work; though we saw a better assortment after- 
ward in Bergen. The silver filigree ornaments are as 
neatly executed as the Genoese, though with less va- 
riety of design. They are more substantial, and do 
not tarnish so readily. I noticed gold thimbles, with 
tops of amethyst and cornelian; something I had not 
seen elsewhere, though they may not be of Norwegian 
manufacture. Passing a shop where umbrellas were 
displayed, I bought one to replace my London umbrella, 
lost at Storen. These were of German manufacture, 
and higher priced than the English, though of inferior 



THRONDHJEM. 



157 



quality. Another purchase was a couple of kerchiefs, 
of silk and woollen materials, to show our friends at 
home the Norwegian fashion of headgear. At a book 
shop on the Strandgade, we found photographs of cos- 
tumes, views of the cathedral and a variety of curiosi- 
ties, carved wood and "tolle knive." 

The falls of the river — the Leer fossen — not far from 
the city, are worth a visit. The lower fall has a per- 
pendicular descent of about seventy feet; the upper is 
higher, but not so abrupt. This water power is turned 
to advantage by several sawmills and copper-smelting 
furnaces; one of the latter a manufactory of sub-oxide 
of copper. 

An excursion up the fjord to Levanger may be made 
by steamer running four times a week; and from there, 
by the highroad to Stockholm, one may post about 
forty miles to Skalstugan, a station beyond the Swed- 
ish frontier, near which is a settlement of Lapps, own- 
ing twelve hundred reindeer. "To ingratiate your- 
self with the former," says Mr. Bennett, "it will be 
right to take a little tobacco, sugar, coffee, some 
knives, scissors, looking glasses, or such things. To 
visit the Lapps, you have to walk about two English 
miles across a morass, and then row half a Norwegian 
mile across a lake. The reindeer are always on the 
fjeld in the summer, about a two-hours' climbing from 
the encampment of the Lapps. If you are satisfied by 
visiting a Lapp family of a father, mother and two 
children, with four hundred reindeer, you may save 
much trouble, as this small family is only a two-hours' 
walk from Skalstugan, and is always to be found there, 
whereas the others wander about very much." 

We had not time to make this excursion, requiring 



i 5 8 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



three or four days, as our passage was engaged on the 
steamer going North July 7; but we talked a good deal 
about it. Considering the circumstances, we ladies 
thought we should be contented with the small family 
of a " father, mother, two children and four hundred 
reindeer"; but Will, with lively memories of Adels- 
berg caverns, declared that nothing would satisfy him 
short of "an illumination of twelve hundred reindeer." 

Tuesday was our last day on land, and we improved 
it by writing letters and eating three good meals at 
Frau Quillfeldt's bountiful table. John and Jane had 
decided to give up the steamer trip North, to remain 
a few days longer in Throndhjem, and await us, per- 
haps, at Bergen. The steamer was advertised to sail 
on the 7th, meaning any time after midnight of the 
6th July; so we went aboard about 11 P. M. The pier 
was at quite the other end of the town from the Victoria 
Hotel — a long walk; but we expected to foot it, and 
our baggage was sent down on a handcart. Just then 
two gentlemen drove up in carioles, threw the reins to 
the skydsguts, and went into the hotel. They had 
finished their journey, and the postboys agreed for a 
consideration to drive two of us down to the steamer. 

Miss M. preferred walking; so Blossom and I 
mounted, tucking our skirts well about our feet, the 
skyds sprang up behind us, and we were off. They 
drove very fast; the carioles were old ones, with 
springs long ago worn out, and the pavements of 
Throndhjem I have already described. The motion 
of a new cariole over a smooth road may be very 
delightful; but I suspect, under any circumstances, 
it must be very good for dyspepsia. When the 
springs are worn out, the springing is done by the 



THRONDHJEM. 



159 



passengers. I could quite believe the anecdote we 
had heard of a gentleman who had lost his rugs and 
even his cushion (generally chained to the seat), with- 
out knowing how or where. " Rattle his bones over 
the stones," was the refrain suggested by our rapid 
progress; we could do nothing to moderate it; and 
the skyds had the effrontery to demand extra pay 
for having driven us so fast. 

The steamer was a scene of confusion, and we 
retreated to our quarters in the ladies' cabin. Perhaps 
Mr. Bennett had sent that telegram for state-rooms; 
but as there were only two on board, beside the cap- 
tain's, and these had been engaged for weeks in 
advance, it might as well have been left on the 
floor. Berths were reserved for us ladies in the ladies' 
cabin, and one for Will in the cabin under the saloon. 

The steamer got off about 1 A. M. Up to that 
time, an incessant trampling of feet, rolling of casks, 
and working of the donkey engine had prevented 
sleep. A sound of pumps, long continued, filled us 
with horrible apprehensions; could it be possible there 
was so much water in the hold ? And in such a state 
of things, how long could the old steamer keep afloat? 
It was comforting to reflect that we were not going 
far out to sea, and if the leak should get the better 
of us, we might put in somewhere and wait to be 
taken off by another steamer. Amid such pleasing 
reflections we fell asleep. 



X. 



ON THE "HAKON ADELSTEIN" — UP TO THE MID- 
NIGHT SUN. 

T^HE steamer did not founder in the course of the 



night, and we opened our eyes in the morn- 
ing none the worse for our narrow quarters; for we 
had kept the port-holes open. The ladies' cabin was 
about ten feet by twenty in size, and contained a 
double row of berths, twelve in all. The six on the 
outside were occupied by English and American la- 
dies, who appreciated the necessity of fresh air — Mrs. 
G. and her niece, Miss M. and myself, and, beyond 
us, two ladies who had not appeared in public; but 
as they had rigged a little tent of shawls about their 
end of the cabin, and a vigorous splashing was audi- 
ble, they were unquestionably English. Two long 
tables filled the centre of the cabin, under and upon 
which were stored our bags and wraps and clothing. 
They were in tolerable order over night, but when we 
tried to dress in the morning, there was a miscellane- 
ous pile, from which each of us fished out her private 
property as best she could ! The reason was obvious. 
The stewardess had overhauled them, to prepare our 
washing accommodations, which were revealed by lift- 
ing up on hinges one end of each table. Two basins 
for twelve people! Not having waked early enough to 
secure a first mortgage on these water privileges (which 




UP TO THE MIDNIGHT SUN 



161 



was our endeavor henceforth), we lay and waited for a 
chance. It soon became evident that there were more 
ladies on board than could be accommodated in the 
ladies' cabin. When I first opened my eyes they rested 
upon a pretty girl, who sat combing her hair. She 
looked up and said, "Good morning!" and we began 
to talk. It appeared that she was one of the passen- 
gers who had arrived on the steamer from Hull, at 
midnight, and come on board just before we started. 
She and her father, Mr. H., were from New-castle- 
upon-Tyne. There were a number of English passen- 
gers, who, with those not otherwise provided for, had 
found berths in the large saloon; a double row being 
made up all round, and a curtain in the middle sep- 
arating the ladies' half from the gentlemen's. The air 
was better there, perhaps; but it was inconvenient to 
be roused so early. The gentlemen were waked first, 
to be out of the way of the ladies; and then the ladies 
must vacate their share of the premises, to make room 
for the tables to be set for breakfast. (We hoped the 
saloon would be thoroughly aired, first !) All these 
ladies came into our little cabin to wash, at the two 
bowls provided; but we did have a clean towel apiece, 
for which we were thankful. 

Breakfast was served from 8.30 onwards, till all 
were satisfied. (Coffee on deck, earlier, if one desired 
it, before the saloon was cleared for action.) The 
table, I may say once for all, for the subject is not an 
agreeable one to dwell upon, was abundant and good, 
but not very neat. Everything was piled on at once, 
like the table at Mme. Ormsend's hotel; raw ham and 
smoked salmon, tongue, smoked beef, sardines and 
other little fishes in oil (delicatessen, the Germans call 



l62 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



them), with cheese in variety, appeared on all occa- 
sions; and beefsteak fried with onions was an invariable 
breakfast dish. A late comer found it difficult to clear 
a place among the debris of previous customers. The 
stewards were running a dozen ways at once, and only 
one of them spoke a little English. Tea and coffee 
were cold; milk ditto; cream sometimes to be had, if 
you were in season. Supplies of milk and cream were 
obtained at the stations, where we stopped frequently. 
We had napkins, but — ! When we returned to the 
ladies' cabin for our wraps, the stewardess had taken 
down the upper row of berths, and was " redding up" 
the establishment for the day. A horrible question 
occurred to us then, What became of all the bedding ? 
It is best not to think of such questions, not to let 
such trifles vex you, — if you can help it. But we saw 
where it was kept — piled up in a heap, in a dark closet, 
and the napkins went in there too — common stock, and 
put on "promiscuous." One evil resulted, which we 
could not ignore; Ave were devoured by fleas, suffering 
more than even at Rome or Naples. Like the mos- 
quitoes, when you do find them in Norway, these 
fleas have a ferocity of their own — they are vikings, 
berserkers ! 

It may be inferred that the steamer was crowded, 
overloaded with passengers. There were at least fifty 
first-class passengers and over three hundred in the 
steerage. 

We lived on deck for the most part, unless rain 
drove us below. The companion-way was no refuge 
for us, for it was occupied with smokers. We had 
clear, bright weather most of the first day out. For 
' a little while, about noon, 'the sea was rough, as we 



UP TO THE MIDNIGHT SUN 



were crossing the Namsen Fjord. Miss M. lay on a 
settee, in silent misery; too wise to go below, but ex- 
pecting an increase of suffering. I could scarcely hold 
up my head; but there was no place for me to lay it 
down. In the midst of our depression we noticed, 
and were heartlessly amused by the deeper misery 
of an English gentleman, who had retreated to the 
extreme stern of the boat; the very place, over the 
screw, where the motion was most trying. His dis- 
tress shunned observation, and we felt sorry for him; 
but we had heard him that morning talking to the 
captain about the North Cape. He was booked for 
the entire voyage, it appeared. " Do you go outside the 
North Cape ?" ''Oh, if the passengers desire it," said 
the captain. "We save some rough weather by going 
through the straits." " I notice the guide-book says 
[he had a Murray, of course,] that if even one passen- 
ger desires it, the captain is obliged to go round the 
cape. Now I particularly wish to go." "All right," 
the captain said; he had no objections. We wondered 
if this gentleman's courage would hold out. But di- 
rectly we passed the mouth of the fjord, and began to 
get up among the islands towards Namsos, where we 
were to stop for an hour, the sea grew smooth; we all 
felt better; and when the dinner bell rang most of us 
felt able to go down. The cabin was full; many had 
to wait for a second table, and I noticed one gentleman 
who had a salmon fishing on the Namsen River, and 
must go ashore at Namsos, sitting on a camp stool 
with his plate on his knees. 

After leaving Namsos the scenery grew finer. We 
passed among countless islands and high, sharp peaks, 
and had no more rough weather, for the steamers pass 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



inside the chain of islands, and make frequent stops 
at the Government stations along the coast, and up 
the fjords. Our steerage passengers landed by degrees, 
at these stations. Most of them were fishermen, who 
had gone down to Hamburg or Bergen to sell their 
stock of codfish and were returning with winter sup- 
plies. We had showers towards evening, and next 
day the weather was cloudy, with heavy rain towards 
night. We were approaching the arctic circle, and it 
would be a grievous disappointment if these rainy 
nights were to continue, and after all our efforts to 
see the midnight sun we should go back without that 
satisfaction, as not a few had done before us. 

The scenery was wonderful, all day. We passed 
close to the high mountains, going among the rocky 
islands, through narrow channels, sometimes so very 
narrow that the rocks seemed to meet before us, and 
gradually to open as our bow pushed through. 

Sometimes the shores would be green and lovely, 
with cattle feeding on their slopes, and houses scattered 
about over the hills; sometimes the islands were just 
masses of barren rock, thrown together and piled up, 
as if by Titans, but of the richest colors — red, green 
and purple. 

These mountains have their legends, too; here, 
right across the arctic circle, is a curiously shaped 
cliff, looking like a horse swimming, with a rider on 
his back. This is the Hestmand, or horseman, about 
eighteen hundred feet out of the water; and when you 
get abreast of another rocky spire, towering a thousand 
feet above your head, you see a curious opening through 
it, a natural tunnel in the rock about five hundred feet 
from the sea. Torghatten, this is called (Torge's hat ?), 



UP TO THE MIDNIGHT SUH. 



165 



and the hole through it was made, we are requested 
to believe, by the Hestmand's arrow. Still stranger 
stories are told of the Seven Sisters, sharp peaks from 
three to four thousand feet high, which are clustered 
near each other. There were seven fair sisters, daugh- 
ters of a king, who, no doubt, held their heads high, 
and refused to marry the Jotuns, the Hestmand and 
the rest, and were changed to these rocky snow-topped 
cliffs. 

Now they stand together in frozen solitude, and 
Torge has a perpetual hole in his hat, and the 
Hestmand urges forward his swimming horse in vain ! 
He never can get beyond the polar circle. Mountain 
heights rise all around us, on the islands or the main- 
land, from one to three thousand feet above the sea. 

The tunnel through Torghatten is described by Mr. 
Campbell, who visited it in 1866, to be six hundred 
feet long and forty-five to sixty feet wide, with smooth, 
vertical walls and jagged roof, the height varying from 
seventy to one hundred and twenty feet, and the floor 
a succession of stony waves. The cliff is composed of 
gneiss, like almost all the rocky coast, and the tunnel 
is accounted for on the supposition that a layer of 
softer rock was destroyed by the action of water (evi- 
dent from the wave-like floor), when the cliff was 
partially submerged. The old beaches farther up the 
coast, near Alten, show a water line two hundred and 
forty feet above the present sea level; so there may 
have been a time when Torghatten was only half its 
present height. Were there human inhabitants of 
these shores in those remote ages, or only the Trolls 
and the Jotuns, fit companions of the great elk and 
the mammoth, the sea serpent and the kraken ? 



i66 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



We stopped at Bodo for several hours, during the 
night, but did not go ashore, for it was rainy, and we 
were in bed. We did not do much sleeping, however, 
when the steamer stopped; for the donkey engine was 
working, and casks and timber and bales of various 
goods were being landed, with no small noise and 
confusion. 1 

The " Hakon Adelstein " proved himself a staunch 
old fellow. By this time we had given up all fear of 
going to the bottom, unless his coat of mail should be 
pierced by some unlooked-for rocky spear. 

Which of the Hakons was he, and why Adelstein ? 
He was the son of old Harald Harfager, about A. D. 920, 
who took refuge in England, after his father's death 
(when Erik Bloodaxe was slaying his brothers), with 
the Saxon king Athelstane, who adopted him, had him 
baptized, and educated him as a Christian. 

Snorre Sturleson tells a more romantic story. 
Hakon was the son of a slave in his father's house 
(nobly born, but a prisoner of war), and born in the 
king's old age, and sent by him when a child to Athel- 
stane, in return for the crafty present of a sword, splen- 
didly mounted with gold, which an English ambassa- 
dor had brought him. Harald drew the sword from 
the scabbard, when the Englishman laughed scornfully. 

Thou art now the feudatory of my king ! Thou hast 
accepted the sword, and art now his man ! " (The ac- 
ceptance of a sword being the symbol of investiture in 
those days.) Harald makes no trouble, but next year 
sends off little Hakon to England, in care of a trusty 
servant, Hauk, who penetrates to the royal palace, 
and places the little fellow on King Athelstane's knee. 
"What is this?" asks the king. "This is King Har- 



UP TO THE MIDNIGHT SUN 



aid's son, whom a serving-maid bore him, and whom, 
he now sends thee, as foster child." Athelstane is in- 
dignant, and draws his sword; but Hauk says, "Thou 
hast taken him on thy knee (common symbol of adop- 
tion); thou canst kill him if thou wilt, but thou dosfc 
not thereby kill all the sons of Harald." 

However it came about, Hakon was educated in 
England, and through his efforts the first gleam of 
Christianity shone into Norway. He came to his 
kingdom while Erik Bloodaxe was reigning in Den- 
mark; fitted out by Athelstane with men and ships,- 
when he was fifteen; went first to his old friend Jarl 
Sigurd at Lade (father of the famous Jarl Hakon), 
and was proclaimed king in Throndhjem. He prom- 
ised to restore the udal rights which his father had 
taken from the Bonders, and persuaded the people 
in Jemteland to resume their allegiance to Norway. 
Some of his brothers retained their kingdoms, sharing 
the revenues with Hakon; but Erik sailed to Orkney, 
and Athelstane gave him the province of Northum- 
berland. 

Hakon first lived in the Throndhjem district; then, 
for better defence of the country, in the fjorde dis- 
tricts, or Rogaland; for he had a stormy life resisting 
Danish and Swedish invasions; but the land was 
free from intestine strife. 

" As long as Hakon was king, there was peace 
between the Bonders and merchants, so that none 
did harm either to the life or good of the other. 
Good seasons also there were, both by sea and land," 
meaning, the harvests and the fisheries were abun- 
dant. " He was a man of great understanding, and 
bestowed attention on law-giving. He gave out the 



i68 



A SCANDINAVIAN- SUMMER. 



Gula Thing laws, on the advice of Thorleif the Wise 
and the Froste Thing laws, on the advice of Jarl 
Sigurd and other Throndhjem men of wisdom." 

These Things were two of the four great Law 
Things or assemblies for framing laws; the other two 
being the Eidsvold Thing or Eidsivia Thing, for the 
inland districts, and the Borgar Thing, at the old 
borg of Sarpsborg, near the Sarps Fos, on the Glom- 
men River. Smaller district Things were held for 
local administration of law, and the " Ore Thing," 
held at the ore or isthmus of the river Nid, was the 
only one which could confer the sovereignty of all 
Norway. All these Things were not representative 
but primary assemblies of all the Bonders of the dis- 
trict udal-born to land. No other class appeared with 
any power. Kings themselves were but Thing-men at 
a Thing, and instead of proclaiming the law talked 
over their ideas and wishes and got them adopted 
in a reasonable way. Even in their expeditions and 
sea fights a Thing of soldiers would be called to- 
gether to advise upon the plan of attack. 

Thus upon all occasions in which men were em 
barked, in common interests, a spirit of self-govern 
ment was established. It is thought that the English 
Parliament owes its origin rather to these Things of 
the Norsemen than to the Saxon Witenagemote. 

The Bonders were called together by "bod," that 
is, "bidding"; the " bud-stikke," a stick of wood 
with a spike at the end, was sent from house to 
house, as a signal for the people to assemble. An 
arrow split into four parts was the signal for going 
armed. A token in the shape of an axe denoted 
that the king would be present; later, one in the 



UP TO THE MIDNIGHT SUN 



169 



form of a cross, that Church affairs were to be 
considered. The Scotch signal of the fiery cross is 
probably of Norsk origin. 

Hakon brought missionaries from England, and tried 
to introduce Christianity, but with little success. At 
a great Thing held in the region of Throndhjem, he 
told the people what he desired of them: to give up 
their heathen idols and sacrifices, to worship the true 
God, and His Son Jesus Christ, and to keep holy the 
Sabbath day by abstaining from labor, and spending 
the day in fasting and meditation. That was too much 
for the Bonders. 

" Take away our old belief, and also our time for 
labor!" "We cannot work without food," said the 
laborers. "It lies in King Hakon's blood," said an- 
other; "his father and all his kindred were apt to be 
stingy about food, though liberal enough with money." 
Finally an old Bonder named Asbjorn, of the Guladal, 
made a speech, in which he put matters very plainly 
before the king, promising that they would sustain him 
in his kingdom if he would go fairly to work, and not 
demand things that were impossible; but threatening 
to desert him and swear allegiance to another unless 
he desisted from this purpose. Whereupon Hakon 
abandoned his plan, not being prepared for the forci- 
ble methods adopted later by the Olafs. But he in- 
troduced Christianity at his court, built churches, sus- 
tained bishops, and did what in him lay peaceably to 
forward the good work. 

His death was worthy of a Norsk hero. Let me 
abridge Sinding's account of it, in his quaint English: 

"After nineteen years the sons of Erik Bloodaxe 
laid claim to the throne, and Harald Grayskin came 
8 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



with a fleet to attack Hakon, when he was at a festi- 
val, on the island of Stord, near Bergen. 'What shall 
we do ? ' said the king, * remain or flee ? ' They all 
cried that they would rather die than betake them- 
selves to their heels. At this answer the king's mind 
abandoned itself to ecstacy, and with a gilded helmet 
on his head, and the costly sword at his side, called 
Quern-biter (because it was so sharp that it could cut 
a hand millstone through, right to the eye, a present 
from the English king), and a javelin in his hand, he 
went to meet his foes, who were drawn up on the 
shore. The victory gained was decisive; but when, in 
the heat of his passion, he was following up his con- 
quest, the noble Norwegian king was mortally wounded 
by an arrow, and died." 

The Danes had fled to their ships, thoroughly routed. 
The wounded king was helped into his ship, and made 
sail for Alrekstad, which was his chief residence, but 
had to stop at a smaller place, which had been his 
mother's, and where he was born, a place called Hella, 
still known as Hakon's Hella. 

Having no son, and only one daughter, he left his 
kingdom to these unnatural nephews, begging them to 
spare his friends and kindred. He was full of peni- 
tence for his sins, and especially for yielding, as he had 
sometimes done, to the observance of heathen feasts 
and sacrifices. 

"If I should live," he said, "I would make a pil- 
grimage to the Holy Land/' 

They asked about his burial, and he answered, "I 
have lived like a heathen, and like a heathen I must be 
buried." 

Friday, our third day out, was clear and the weather 



UP TO THE MIDNIGHT SUN 



171 



milder than it had been before, though we still needed 
our wraps. We went through grand scenery all day; 
mountain peaks and snowy ranges and fjelds, four or 
five thousand feet high, with the Lofoden Islands on 
our left, their beautiful mountain summits gilded by 
the sunlight. All this scenery needs sunshine and a 
background of blue sky; though grand, it is terribly 
stern and dreary in cloudy weather. 

We stopped occasionally at stations, leaving a 
boatload or more of our steerage passengers, and 
sometimes one or two from the cabin. A bright 
young lady, who could speak German and a little 
English, got off this morning, to go in a small boat 
fourteen miles up the fjord, to visit her uncle, a pastor 
in one of these Northern parishes. She told us how 
the people come to church, in boats, from all the 
islands and mainland settlements in the region. Sun- 
days are great occasions; almost their only chance for 
sociability. They bring their provisions, and if they live 
very far away, come on Saturday and return Monday. 
The pastor's family must entertain them over night, I 
suppose. We noticed that the " Prestegaard " or par- 
sonage was always a large building, and he must be 
like the bishops of the Primitive Church, ''given to 
hospitality." Sometimes a congregation of three hun- 
dred will be present, and they do not stay away unless 
for very rough weather. 

How dismal life must be here in the winter ! Sum- 
mer is lonely and solitary enough, but when the long, 
dark nights come, with scarce a gleam of sunlight for 
months, it seems as if a sensitive nature would be de- 
pressed to the verge of insanity. 

A young doctor of laws from Christiania gave us an 



172 



A SCANDINA VI AN SUMMER. 



account of the school system in Norway, which ex- 
tends even to these remote islands. The teachers are 
supported by Government, and kept here for several 
months in the year, and all the people living in the 
school district are obliged to send their children. 
They are taught reading and writing, a little arith- 
metic, and the catechism; and at a certain age all are 
obliged to^be confirmed. If parents neglect to have 
their children instructed, and they reach the age of 
confirmation without the requisite amount of learning, 
they are taken away to an establishment where they are 
taught until able to pass the examination required. 
So their parents lose the benefit of their help for that 
period, and it is for their interest to have them well 
brought up. 

We began to get acquainted with our fellow pas- 
sengers, this pleasant day, having had little to do with 
any of them before, except those we had previously 
met — the Irish major's party and the Cornell student, 
or those who shared our cabin, Miss L. and her niece, 
Miss W. and the pretty English girl from Newcastle. 
There was a Scotchman from the Hebrides, or the 
Orkneys, now an analytical chemist in London, with 
an appointment under Government, and three other 
Scotchmen, travelling in company; two young Irish 
captains, whom we had passed on the Dovrefjeld, 
footing it through the finest scenery, in knickerbockers, 
who now pedestrianized the deck in the most vigorous 
manner; the reticent Englishman, who intended to go 
round the North Cape; three German gentlemen, whose 
intentions were not announced, but who appeared so 
much bored that we were not surprised to find them 
landing at Tromsoe, next day; and the Norwegians. 



UP TO THE MIDNIGHT SUN. 



173 



These were Dr. Aal, who was on his way to visit his 
brother-in-law, a pastor near Hammerfest; next, the 
magistrate of some amt in this region, whose wife and 
children occupied berths in our cabin, and were treated 
with the greatest respect by the stewardess and all the 
servants; a queer little man, who was bringing home 
a bride from Hamburg, and was constantly coming to 
the door of the ladies' cabin and calling " Kone ! " (the 
title of a wife in Norway,) and the young lady who 
bade us good-by this morning. With all these we felt 
more or less acquainted. Last, but not quite least (for 
the amtmand's wife had a baby), was the captain's 
little boy; a fine, frolicsome fellow of five years, who 
would have been a pet with everybody; but whenever 
he could attend to him, his father had him constantly 
in hand, or held him by the little belt of his blouse. 
He had a -nurse; but I think the child was not allowed* 
on deck, unless the captain were at liberty to take 
care of him. The captain himself I should have intro- 
duced before; but, unfortunately, I have forgotten his 
name. He was a favorite with us all; a quiet, cour- 
teous gentleman, whose cheerful face inspired us with 
confidence. There would seem to be little danger in 
sailing on these fjords in summer; but fogs sometimes 
veil the rocky points, and put the seamen out of their 
reckoning. Not long before, one of these coasting 
steamers had been wrecked off Christiansand. We 
had not heard of it, then; fortunately for our peace 
of mind. 

It was a cloudless evening, and all the passengers 
were on deck, waiting for the long-desired spectacle 
of the midnight sun. Somebody asked the Norwegian 
gentlemen to sing us some of their national airs. Dr. 



174 



A SCANDINAVIAN' SUMMER. 



Aal and three others were so kind as to entertain us 
for a long time, singing " Gamle Norge " and other 
patriotic airs, student songs, church music, and songs 
of the peasants on the saeters; these last were some- 
thing like German volk songs, but with sweet minor 
strains and cadences peculiar to themselves. The 
gentlemen sung four parts, and their voices harmo- 
nized finely. The Swedish songs also are said to be 
very sweet. Singing is taught at all the public schools, 
as it is in Germany. 

We stopped a long time at a station called Sand 
— an island, in north latitude 69 , longitude 34 17' — 
where the sun was concealed from our view by a high 
mountain; and it was so nearly midnight that we 
began to fear we should lose the critical moment, 
though there could be no question that the sun was 
above the horizon, for the distant peaks were gilded 
and the clouds were gorgeous. 

The sea was as clear and still as a mirror, re- 
flecting all the lovely tints of mountains and sky. By 
and by we steamed out of the shadow; and as we 
passed beyond the dark mountain, a few minutes be- 
fore twelve o'clock, the sun was shining in dazzling 
splendor, apparently about two degrees above the 
horizon line of sea. It dropped no lower, but soon 
began to ascend gradually, appearing above the sum- 
mit of the next mountain that interposed. The gentle- 
men greeted the sight with three cheers, adding another 
for " Gamle Norge" (old Norway). Some of them tried 
to burn holes in their hats with glasses; and I think 
one of them succeeded after long labor, but there was 
not much heat in the rays. The effect of the golden 
light was wonderful, and the glowing reflection on the 



UP TO THE MIDNIGHT SUN. 



175 



glassy surface of the sea. From the North Cape itself 
it could hardly have been more glorious. * 

I know nothing finer, unless a sunset on the Nile, 
with the afterglow; perhaps even that is less wonder- 
ful than the midnight sun, under favorable circum- 
stances. But personal comfort has a good deal to 
do with our enjoyment of natural beauty. It was ex- 
tremely, intensely cold (I think we were near enough 
to icebergs and glaciers to feel their chill), and when 
the spectacle was over, we were all glad to retire to 
the cabin and get warm under blankets. I made in- 
terest with Caroline, the stewardess, to procure me 
a bottle of hot water as a foot-warmer, one of the 
ladies having kindly instructed me in the necessary 
phrase, "Vil de bring mig en store flask kogende 

* The North Cape, under the midnight sun, is thus described by Bayard 
Taylor: 

"Far to the north the sun lay in abed of saffron light, over the clear 
horizon of the Arctic Ocean. A few bars of dazzling orange cloud floated 
above him; and still higher in the sky, where the saffron melted through 
delicate rose color into blue, hung like wreaths of vapor, touched with pearly 
opaline flushes of pink and golden gray. The sea was a web of pale slate 
color shot through with threads of orange and saffron, from the dance of a 
myriad shifting and twinkling ripples. The air was filled with the soft, 
mysterious glow; and even the very azure of the southern sky seemed to 
shine through a net of golden gauze. The headlands of this deeply indented 
coast — the capes of the Laxe and Porsanger Fjords, and of Mageroe, lay 
around us, in different degrees of distance, but all with foreheads touched 
with supernatural glory. Far to the northeast was Nord Kyn, the most 
northern point of the mainland of Europe, gleaming rosily and faint in the 
full beams of the sun, and just as our watches denoted midnight, the North 
Cape appeared to the westward — a long line of purple bluff, presenting a 
vertical front of nine hundred feet in height to the polar ocean. Midway 
between these two magnificent headlands stood the midnight sun, shining 
on us with subdued fires, and with the gorgeous coloring of an hour for 
which we have no name, since it is neither sunrise nor sunset, but the blended 
loveliness of both." 



176 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



vand?" This poor stewardess was of a stupidity in- 
credible and unaccountable, until we noticed one day 
the black hole from which she emerged, whenever 
called for in the daytime — a dark, unventilated cabin, 
in which she spent all her spare time, asleep or in a 
state of stupor produced by the carbonic-acid gas she 
was constantly inhaling. We had a disturbed night, 
for our beds, as usual, were hard and narrow, and we 
stopped at several stations, where the discharging of 
cargo was very noisy work. We were all glad when 
Tromsoe was reached, at noon of Saturday, and the 
steamer stopped until midnight. The scenery con- 
tinued to be very fine, but we were told that we 
had seen the best of it. After Hammerfest the shores 
are lower and the rock forms and colors less wild and 
beautiful. We would gladly have gone on to Ham- 
merfest and seen the most northern town of Europe, 
although there is little of interest to be found there, 
for it was only a day's journey farther; but we had 
lost all desire of seeing the North Cape at the cost 
of prolonging our voyage by a week, and we had as 
little inclination to wait the same time for the Hakon 
at Hammerfest. 



XI. 



T R O M S O E. 



HE steamer anchored out in the fjord, and little 



* boats came out to take the passengers ashore. 
We had to go forward between decks, and clamber 
down from a hole in the ship's side into the boat 
which we had bargained for; and our luggage went 
before and followed us in a delightfully promiscuous 
manner. The boat was so heavily laden that we 
were glad to get safely out of it on to the long 
staging which stretches out from the shore. This was 
crowded with people, who gazed at the strangers with 
interest. 

Nearly all the cabin passengers landed, as the 
steamer was to stop until midnight, and there was 
much inquiry after hotels. Several of the English- 
men had telegraphed for rooms to a widow lady who 
entertained strangers, and they kindly told us they 
thought there was no other hotel in the place, and 
it was very doubtful if we could obtain accommoda- 
tions; but the porters who had appropriated our lug- 
gage told us there was another, even Schmidt's Hotel; 
and, finding the widow's quarters full, we kept on 
up the hill, to see what Mr. Schmidt could do for us. 
There were fourteen of us seeking dinner, though five 
or six were going on in the steamer. We entered 




8* 



i?8 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



the house, were requested to walk upstairs, and asked 
for Mr. Schmidt. A stalwart negro, black as the ace 
of spades, appeared in response. 

" Oh, he is a blacksmith ! " exclaimed one of the 
Scotchmen. But Sambo was the only English-speak- 
ing person in the establishment, and as such was put 
in the fore-front. He made all the arrangements. 
We could have rooms; oh, yes ! plenty of rooms. 
And dinner ? To be sure, dinner for everybody. He 
waited at table in a clean white jacket and apron, and 
was the most homelike object our eyes had rested 
upon for a long time. It was a luxury to sit down 
to a table neatly laid and properly waited on, though 
the fare was no better than on the steamer. 

Sambo was from Jamaica. How did this tropical 
specimen find his way to these frozen shores ? Was 
he drifted by the Gulf Stream, like the casks of palm 
oil which came ashore at Hammerfest in 1823, and 
were traced to a wreck off Cape Lopez, on the coast 
of Africa ? 

Schmidt's Hotel was a square wooden building, 
with a large billiard room on the ground floor, and 
the guest-room above it — a pleasant apartment, both 
sitting and dining room. The other side of the house 
was divided into four bedrooms, and there were smaller 
chambers in the attic above. The kitchen was a small 
room in the centre of the house, and was nearly filled 
by an immense cooking range. 

Nearly all the gentlemen started, after dinner, for 
a walk to the Lapp encampment, three or four miles 
distant up the Tromsdal, a pretty valley among the 
hills; but it was voted too much of an undertaking 
for the ladies, so we spent the afternoon wandering 



TROMSOE. 



179 



about the village, with Miss H., who had found her- 
self the only lady at the widow's, and came over to 
Schmidt's for company. She was full of harmless 
gossip about our fellow passengers; it was quite won- 
derful how people had confided to one another their 
own histories and what they knew of other people. 
The G.'s, for instance, lived in the south of Ireland, 
and Miss G., their niece, was one of a large family, 
all very nice girls, but poor, you know, though of 
an excellent family — county people; so their uncle 
contrived to take one of them at a time, and give 
them an outing. Then Miss L. and her niece were 
still more highly connected; Miss W. was actually a 

sister of Lord W. d'E , an Irish peer. And the 

Scotch people: poor Kilmarnock, we had noticed him, 
of course ? Well, and he used to be so clever, taking 
high rank in the university, when he was attacked 
with epilepsy, which had reduced him to this sad 
condition. Mr. M. was his guardian; he was a fine 
fellow, and so kind to poor K. And the other Scotch- 
man, red-headed and impetuous ? Oh, he was heir to 
an immense property; his father had made a fortune 
in marmalade. Dr. R., the chemist, we had ourselves 
heard relating the story of his life to pretty Miss H., 
and begging her to call on his motherless daughter, at 
his cottage in Kensington. He was a very amusing 
man, possessed of an immense fund of information 
on all sorts of subjects, and with the simplest man- 
ners. So we chatted, as we sat on the rocks at the 
end of the village, where the hill sloped off to the 
shore. 

We had a following, as we walked through the 
streets, like the tail of a Highland chieftain; small 



i8o 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



children for the most part, who occasionally ran ahead 
and stared at us. Was it a compliment, or the re- 
verse ? We could not quite determine. We went 
into a little shop where watches and jewellery were 
exhibited, to purchase some souvenir of Tromsoe, but 
found that the articles were mostly of English manu- 
facture. We began in our limited Norsk, but soon 
found that the pretty girl who waited on us under- 
stood English. Where did she learn to speak it so 
well, in England ? 

No; in America. She had lived two years at a place 
called Freeport, near Chicago. Which did she like the 
best — Norway or America ? Oh, Norway: she was glad 
to get back, and thought the winters no colder here 
than in Chicago. She could not deny that they were 
longer and darker. 

But the influence of the Gulf Stream greatly modi- 
fies the climate on the coast. They say the winters 
are not colder here than at Hamburg, and we can quite 
believe it. The average temperature at Alten, a lit- 
tle farther north than Tromsoe, is 33.66 Fahrenheit. 
Drift ice is never seen here, at 71 north latitude, 
though common on the American coast at 41 off 
Labrador and Newfoundland. The summer, though 
so short, is unusually rapid, the continual stimulus of 
sunshine bringing forward vegetation in a wonderful 
manner. The neighborhood of the Alten Fjord is fa- 
vorably situated, being sheltered on all sides by moun- 
tains. At Kaafjord, the innermost branch of the Alten, 
peas, beans, cauliflower, radishes and lettuce are raised; 
and though planted six weeks later than in Christiania, 
come to maturity at about the same time. 

We found flowers growing in the fields near the vil- 



TROMSOE. 



181 



lage; large, double ranunculi, wild pansies, pink heather, 
buttercups and dandelions. Miss L., who carried a sort 
of portable garden, done up in india-rubber cloth, found 
some choice ferns, which she hoped in this way to carry 
safely to her fernery in the south of Ireland. She and 
her niece (the lord's sister) were provided with some 
unusual articles of luggage, in the shape of two large 
crockery washing basins, which they had purchased at 
Throndhjem. In landing at Tromsoe we heard an 
ominous crash; and it appeared afterwards that these 
useful articles had come to grief, to the great distress 
of their owners. 

On returning to Schmidt's Hotel we found the party 
who had visited the Lapp encampment in a state of 
disappointment and disgust, because they had found 
no reindeer (they were off, feeding on the mountains), 
and had had a wet, tiresome walk, with nothing in 
particular to reward them for their exertions. The 
Cornell student brought back a pair of reindeer-skin 
boots, which were tastefully made, but very offensive 
in odor. We had seen Lapps on the steamer and 
about the streets of Tromsoe and were familiar with 
their costume and appearance. They are a small folk, 
about the size of Chinese, and not unlike them in com- 
plexion and features. If dressed in the same fashion, 
I think the family likeness would be perceptible. 

Those that we saw were dressed in long, blue cloth 
tunics, bordered with red and yellow stripes, and square 
caps of the same material, with similar ornamentation 
They wore boots of reindeer skin, turning up at the 
toes in a sharp point, stitched with bright colors, and 
laced with the sinews of the reindeer. In winter they 
wear tunics and leggings of the skin, with the hair 



182 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



inside. A belt of skin, perhaps eight inches wide, is 
sometimes worn around the waist. The women wore 
cotton dresses and little shawls; but instead of the 
kerchief they had a curious head-dress, which comes 
close about the face, like a cap, and is tied under the 
chin, but sticks out behind like a hemlet, put on almost 
horizontally. It is made over a wooden framework, 
and covered with bright woollen materials, red, blue and 
yellow. In cold weather they dress in tunics and full 
trousers of reindeer skin, with skin or fur caps. 

Mr. Edward Rae, who visited this Lapp encamp- 
ment at Tromsoe, gives the following description 
of it: 

"We were ferried across the fjord in a small boat, 
and walked up a beautiful wooded valley, among silver 
birch-trees, past mossy banks, and over rippling brooks, 
through carpets of lovely oak and beech fern, and blue- 
berries, harebells and anemones. At length, after an 
hour and a quarter's walk we came to the encampment 
of the Laplanders; six or eight rude huts or wigwams; 
half were store-houses and half human dwellings. The 
Lapp occupants were poor and dirty; and we wellnigh 
asphyxiated ourselves by entering a hut where a woman 
was baking rye cakes by a wood fire. Chimney there 
vas none; a hole in the roof admitted the draught, 
vhich carried the smoke into our mouths, arousing 
choking coughs, and into our eyes, which filled with 
bitter tears. 

"There was a magnificent Lapp baby, in a red- 
leather cradle, lined with soft, white fur, that took our 
fancy, and was handed round and kissed. It was the 
only cleanly object we saw in the huts. We loitered 
about for an hour or two, waiting for the herd of rein- 



TROMSOE. 



I8 3 



deer — which only arrived on the following day — and, 
becoming tired, bade the Lapps good-by."* 

Mr. Charles Brace of New York visited the same 
encampment twenty years ago, in company with the 
amtmand of Tromsoe, who had sent word in advance 
to have the reindeer driven in from the mountains. 
"The first glimpse we caught of them was as of a flock 
of little black animals, on the snow at the top of the 
mountain. Gradually they drew nearer, and we could 
see that they were driven by some little Lapland dogs, 
and two boys with whips. Every straggler from the 
herd was at once brought in by the dogs, and the whole 
mass was directed towards us. Finally they came, 
tramping and snuffing, and with a low grunting noise, 
into the valley, and passed us, some two hundred of 
them — the bucks bent down under their grand antlers, 
the does very thin and scraggy, the little fawns, dun- 
colored and graceful — all running into an enclosure. 
They are a small deer, and at this season peculiarly 
ugly. Their motion is a kind of quick trot — not a 
bound, like that of our deer — and it is said that they 
will keep this up for ninety miles a day. Their milk is 
very rich in quality, and not disagreeable. Their food, 
beside the reindeer moss, which the Lapps keep and dry 
for winter use, is a lichen with a broad, pale-green leaf 
which grows on the rocks. They also eat the lemming 
rat. They are greatly troubled by flies and insects in 
summer, and to escape these, or to procure their fa- 
vorite moss, they draw their masters down at this 
season to the hills near the sea." 

These migrations of the reindeer almost occasioned 

* "Land of the North Wind." Murray. London, 1875. 



1 84 A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 

a war between Norway and Russia. The Finnish fish- 
ermen used to frequent the Norwegian fishing grounds, 
and the Norwegian Lapps were allowed to cross into 
Finland, during the winter, to obtain moss for their 
reindeer. This was settled by a treaty between Nor- 
way and Sweden in 175 1 . When Finland was ceded 
to Russia, the Government demanded great privileges 
for fishermen, and even stations on the coast. These 
were refused, and in return Russia refused the Lapps 
the privilege of entering Finland with their reindeer, 
and when the animals forced their way to their usual 
food, they were killed by the Russian agents; and as the 
Lapps attributed their troubles to their own Govern- 
ment, there were several insurrections among them. 

The Norwegian Government appointed a commis- 
sion to visit the Lapps and demand satisfaction of the 
Russians. This was in 1853. Since that time the 
Lapps have been obliged to confine themselves to 
their own quarters in Norwegian Finmark. About 
the same time there was a strong religious excitement 
among the Lapps, and in an outbreak of fanaticism 
they murdered the Lensmand of Kautokimo and cast 
his body into the flames of his own house, killed a 
prominent merchant, and dragged the good pastor 
Hvoslef and his wife by the hair of their heads, and, 
but for the interference of some well-disposed Lapps, 
would have put them also to death. In spite of the 
fanaticism attending it, this religious movement was 
productive of good. There was much less intemper- 
ance among the Lapps, and a better standard of 
morals, generally, afterward. 

The romance of Mugge, " Afraja, or Life and Love 
in Norway," comes naturally into mind at Tromsoe, 



/ 

/ 



TROMSOE. 185 

where the wicked vagt, or amtmand, resided, and 
where poor old Afraja was burned to death as a sor- 
cerer. It must be a long time since any such event 
has occurred; and though Miigge's descriptions of 
Norwegian scenery are very graphic, and his repre- 
sentations of Norwegian life and character, in general, 
true to nature, his work must be read as a romance, 
after all, and not as history. There is a prejudice 
against the Lapps among the Norwegians, as there 
is a prejudice among our Western people against the 
Indians, perhaps with less reason. That they have 
been treated with great injustice there can be no 
doubt. Heaven forbid that the Lapps have been 
more unjustly dealt with than our Indians ! 

Mr. Rae quotes a history of Lapland, written by 
"John Schefferus, professor of law and rhetoric at Up- 
sala in Sweden, and printed in English, at the the- 
atre in Oxford, 1674." With reference to the early 
belief of the Lapps: " They worshipped a god called 
Jumala, likewise the god of victory Tunisas, or Thor, 
prince of the Asiatics (Scythians), also the sun. 
These are the chief gods. They worship to this day 
Rongotheus, god of rye; Pellonpeko, of barley; Wier- 
ecannos, of oats; Uko, of tempests; Nyoke, of squir- 
rel hunting; Hyttavanes, of hunting. Jumala has 
power over the air, thunder and lightning, health, life 
and death of men, and such like." Their idols are 
very rude, mere stumps of trees, sometimes, or stones 
of grotesque and almost human shape. "In a cata- 
ract of the Tornea, there are found seitas, just in the 
shape of a man, one of them tall; and hard-by, four 
others, something lower, with a cap on their heads. 
But because the passage into that island is dangerous, 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



because of the cataract, the Laplanders are forced to 
desist from going to that place." The readers of 
"Afraja" will remember the circle of saita stones, on 
the rocky plateau. These are described as hewn 
square and marked with curious lines and furrows, 
something like a Druid circle. 

Professor Schefferus goes on to observe, "It hath 
been a received opinion that the Laplanders are ad- 
dicted to magic. They have teachers and professors 
in this science, and parents in their last will bequeath 
to their children, as the greatest part of their estate, 
those spirits and devils that have been any way ser- 
viceable to them in their lifetime. Some of the more 
obsequious spirits will not engage themselves with- 
out great solicitation, while others more readily 
proffer themselves to young children. When the 
devil takes a fancy to any one in his infancy, he 
presently haunts him with apparitions, from whence 
he learns what belongs to the art." Schefferus de- 
scribes the boundaries and climate of Lapland, and 
speaks of " mountains called Doffrini, upon whose 
naked tops, by reason of the violence of the wind to 
which they are exposed, never yet grew tree"; and 
adds, of the climate, "It is so extreme cold here in 
the winter that 'tis not to be endured but by those 
that have been brought up in it." 

Up to the seventeenth century the Lapps were left 
undisturbed in their ancient belief and practice. No 
definite boundary separated their country from the 
kingdoms of Sweden and Norway. As early as the 
time of Harald Harfager, the nomadic tribes along 
the coast, beyond the North Cape, paid tribute to 
Norway. They were called Finns, or Cwenas (whence 



TROMSOE. 



187 



Quanes), and their country Finmark, while the tribes in 
the north of Sweden were called Lapps, and their 
country Lapland. If not of the same race originally 
which seems probable, they were of similar origin; all 
these tribes, Finns, Lapps, and Quanes, or Russian 
Finns, belong to one great family, the Tsjudes, an 
Asiatic race allied to the Mongolians, according to 
Swedish ethnologists. The Lapps about the head of 
the gulf of Bothnia, were oppressed by the fur traders, 
who had been granted a monopoly of the commerce 
of that region, and who went so far as to style them- 
selves kings of the Lapps. Gustavus Vasa expelled 
them, and exacted tribute of the natives. His son, 
Charles IX., assumed the title of "King of the Lapps 
of Norrland," and having founded the city of Gotten- 
burg, granted to the inhabitants the privilege of fishing 
on the northern coasts of Lapland. He was the first 
to build churches in Lapland, which he did at his own 
charge; one at Tenotekis in 1600, and three others a 
few years later. Gustavus Adolphus established schools 
among them. At the present time the Lapps are on 
terms of equality with the rest of the population as re- 
gards civil and religious liberty. Schools and churches 
are supported among them, and they are entitled to 
suffrage and to representation in the Storthing. Al- 
though they live so simply, and with a delight in their 
wild, free life equal to that of a Bedouin Arab in the 
desert, many of them are intelligent. Mr. Brace con- 
versed with the chief of the little tribe at Tromsoe, 
through an interpreter, and was surprised at the wis- 
dom of his answers. He and a young herdsman both 
spoke of the superstitions of the Lapps as a thing of 
the past; only the poorest persons had any fear of 



i88 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



demons or evil spirits. Jumala, they seemed to iden- 
tify with Satan. They learned of the schoolmasters; 
they could read the Bible; they believed in Jesus. 
Both spoke with great affection of the good mission- 
ary Lestadius — the originator of the remarkable relig- 
ious movement among them — who died in 1841. His 
son had emigrated to America. Did Mr. Brace know 
him ? 

" He was asked, ' Do you believe you will live after 
you die ? ' 

" 'Every one will live,' he answered, very seriously; 
but whether he should attain the blessed life, he was 
not sure; he was trying very hard, but sometimes he 
was in doubt. 

" ' Do you think you will live above, or below?' 
The answer was remarkable: ' God is everywhere, 
above and below. He will do with me what is good.' 

" He seemed a savage, when I first addressed him; 
but I shook hands with him at parting, as if we be- 
longed to more than the brotherhood of humanity." * 

We had a dish at supper which was new to most of 
us — molteberries and cream. These berries are said 
to be like the Scotch cloudberries; but as I am not fa- 
miliar with that species of fruit I cannot vouch for the 
resemblance. They are of a buff color, about as large 
as Antwerp raspberries, of a pleasant acid taste, and 
when you put a spoonful in your mouth you feel as if it 
were full of small shot. They were worse than cherry 
stones, because they were more numerous. I think 
Sambo was disappointed because we left our saucers 
of berries and cream unfinished, but we couldn't help 



* " The Norse Folk." By Charles Loring Brace. 



TROMSOE. 



it. It is a fruit of which the natives are very proud, 
and one might say it is all they have to be proud of in 
that line. Mother Nature is not bountiful at Tromsoe. 
They grow in great quantities, and are kept through 
the winter by being buried under the snow, and jam 
is sometimes made of them. If one began by getting 
rid of the seeds, the jam might be very nice.* (I won- 
der if it was the marmalade young man who sug- 
gested our having molteberries for supper!) 

We bade good-by to our steamer friends, who were 
courageous enough to go on, at midnight, and then 
strolled up the street to a little shop where we had 
that afternoon made an appointment with a photog- 
rapher. We wanted our "fotografs" (they spell it so 
in Norway !) taken by the midnight sun. We went 
through a gate in a high board fence, into a little 
yard, where an instrument stood ready, and took our 
seats under a little shed prepared for the purpose. It 
was to be a group; so the two older ladies were seated 
in front, and the young folks stood behind our chairs. 
Tromsoe is shut in by mountains, so that the sun was 
not visible; but it was above the horizon, and the sky 
was perfectly clear. It was very cold; we had on thick 
jackets and wanted our shawls too, but these were ar- 
tistically arranged as drapery. The artist had his 
plates ready and did not keep us waiting, but the 
process was a long one and our gravity was not equal 

* The entire absence of scurvy during the voyage of the Vega is attrib- 
uted by Professor NordenskjOld to the free use of a little berry that springs 
out of the ice and snow during the summer. It bears profusely, and has a 
taste like the raspberry, but more acid. The fruit is dried and mixed with 
the milk of the reindeer, and can be carried in a frozen state for thousands 
of miles. This must be the molteberry. 



190 A SCANDINAVIAN' SUMMER. 

to the occasion. I am sorry to say, in plain language, 
that we giggled and spoiled the first negative; but we 
behaved better at the second trial; the clock struck 
twelve at the exact moment, and the picture was a 
success. So the artist said, and we were to have 
proofs early Monday morning. As it was now Sunday 
morning, we went back to our quarters and retired to 
rest. 

Sambo had promised us rooms, but at our first ar- 
rival there had been only one at our disposal. The 
others were occupied by people who were going on in 
the steamer, and would vacate before midnight. We 
found them prepared for us; one on the ground floor 
was assigned to Miss M., Blossom and I had a large 
room in the second story, and Will ascended to the at- 
tic. Our beds were unique; spiral springs covered with 
sacking, and nothing else. We had thick, wadded cov- 
erlids, which we used to soften the springs, and took 
all our rugs and wraps for blankets. It was not luxury 
exactly, but, after the steamer, it was comfort. 

We slept late, to make up for lost time, and break- 
fasted about half-past eleven. All our party were of 
the same mind, and the table was full. An English- 
man, who was staying at the hotel, informed us gravely 
that " they could not produce eggs in Tromsoe," and 
that the rather doubtful ones we were eating, or let- 
ting alone, had been brought from Hamburg. We were 
slightly surprised, as we had seen fowls on the street, 
and told him so; but he insisted that they had been 
lately brought here, and would not live through the 
winter. (We had seen pigs on the street too, run- 
ning about, and eating grass, just as they did in the 
Romsdal.) 



TROMSOE. 



191 



Dinner was at two o'clock, and we devoted the short 
interval to our usual Sunday work of writing letters. 
There was no stove in our room, and we suffered from 
cold, this nth day of July, 1875, while our friends 
were roasting at home. 

In the afternoon we went to the service at the large 
wooden church in the centre of the village; the service 
was at 5 P. M. Morning service, I think, had been at 
9 A. M. The church was painted outside, but showed 
the timbers within; it was in the form of a cross, with 
the entrance on two sides. We found it well filled 
with people, plainly dressed, the women nearly all 
with kerchiefs; now and then a hat on some member 
of the Tromsoe aristocracy, or young girl who had 
been to America. The women were on one side, and 
men on the other. I believe this division of the sheep 
and the goats is customary in Norway. The pulpit 
was at an angle of the cross, and the choir behind was 
occupied by the altar, on a raised platform. A very 
good organ, for that latitude, led the singing, which 
was congregational, much like the German chorales. 
The priest wore a long, black robe, with a wide, white 
ruff round his neck, very becoming to his blonde beau- 
ty; for he was handsome, and very fair, and looked very 
young. He preached a long sermon, of which we made 
out now and then a word, from its resemblance to the 
German — " Sundlosigkeit," for example. The air be- 
came so oppressive, from the crowded audience and 
utter want of ventilation, that we left before the ser- 
mon was over. 

There was a little croquet ground on the green near 
the church, and children were playing there. Shops 
are not open, and people go to church ; but beyond 



192 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



that, I fancy they do not keep Sunday any more 
strictly in Norway than elsewhere on the continent. 
People visit, and give parties and balls, and amuse 
themselves generally. The day has nothing like the 
solemnity it possesses in England, and especially in 
Scotland. 

We wanted to mail letters, and found the post-office 
open. Not knowing just where it was, we had inquired 
of a lady, who was sitting with friends on the porch in 
front of her house. "My husband will go with you 
and show the way," said she; and he very kindly did 
so, talking in English with us. Afterwards we walked 
down to the landing, and fonnd the. wharf crowded, as 
it had been the day before. 

The steamer from Hammerfest was just in, the 
Lofoten, on which we were to sail next day. Will 
took a boat and went out to her, to find at what hour 
she would leave ; we feared it would be at midnight. 
But it appeared there were people on board who wished 
to visit the Lapp encampment; so her departure was 
fixed for noon on Monday. We could have another 
night's rest on our spiral springs. 

Tromsoe has about fifteen hundred inhabitants.* 
We wondered at first where they all lived, for it seems 
a small village ; but we had no doubt of the fact after 
going to church, and (leaving the church full) finding 
the crowd on the wharf. There were Lapps there and 
we saw Lapps in church. 

The Norwegian pastors are said to have the best 
salaries and the easiest work of any Government of- 
ficials. Twenty years ago, when Mr. Brace was here, 

* According to Murray — Nielsen says four thousand : but that must mean 
the parish, or amt. On Sundays they come in, from all the adjacent region. 



TROMSOE. 



193 



the Tromsoe pastor had a salary of $2,500 and a house. 
This salary was made up in the following manner : 
Twenty dollars came from eider down, $400 from lands 
belonging to the parish let out to farmers ; the rest was 
paid by the parish taxes and by the State, from a fund 
established for the purpose when the Lutheran Church 
became the State Church of Norway and the Catholic 
establishments were suppressed. Besides this salary 
the pastor has fixed fees for baptisms, marriages and 
funerals. In the fishing districts it is usual for every 
fisherman to contribute a portion of his catch, and in 
a good season the pastor will often have three or four 
hundred dollars' worth of fish. When one considers 
the cheapness of living in Norway, this furnishes a very 
liberal support. 



9 



XII. 



ON THE STEAMER LOFOTEN. 
E did not join the party from the steamer, in the 



▼ * excursion to the Lapp encampment, being 
deterred by the experience of the Irish ladies on Sat- 
urday, who had found the walk very long and weari- 
some. Word had been sent to the camp, and the Lapps 
had driven in some of their reindeer from the moun- 
tains, for the inspection of their guests. These were 
the party of Parisian travellers, whom we had encoun- 
tered at Mr. Bennett's house — Dr. E., with his wife, her 
mother, and two ladies from New York. 

When we boarded the steamer Lofoten, which sailed 
at noon on Monday, July 12, we were the only passen- 
gers from the Hakon Adelstein ; the others remaining 
in Tromsoe, to take a smaller steamer for a trip to the 
Lofoden Islands, or to wait the Hakon's return. We 
turned our backs on the North Pole, not without re- 
gret ; for it would have been a fine thing to tell of at 
home, if we could have beheld the midnight sun from 
the North Cape, as did Bayard Taylor : but we were 
too much in sympathy with the German gentleman, 
who had disembarked with us on Saturday; "we could 
no more of that steamer." We little thought that we 
should have cause to regret the Hakon in the far 
greater tribulations we endured on the Lofoten. 

This steamer was smaller, and seemed, at first, more 




ON THE STEAMER LOFOTEN. 



195 



comfortably arranged than the Hakon ; but it was not 
less crowded in proportion to its size. There were 
more state-rooms ; but the ladies' cabin was smaller. 
The berths on the outside, controlling the portholes, 
were occupied, and we were driven into a corner ; but 
there was a good- sized ventilator in the roof, and we 
had hopes of fresh air. Our new friends had state- 
rooms, and, by making a point of it, had been able to 
keep the same places at table, and secure a fair share 
of attention. They had been on the steamer since she 
left Throndhjem, about the first of July, except that 
they got off at Hammerfest while she went round to 
Vadsoe ; and finding little to interest them in that fishy 
town where, the principal manufacture is that of cod- 
liver oil, they had gone up the Alten Fjord to Bosekop, 
where they had been agreeably entertained at the 
house of a widow lady while waiting the return of the 
steamer. From their account she must have been 
almost equal to Mme. Quillfeldt. 

Bosekop is on a lofty headland which separates the 
inner branches of the Alten Fjord, the western being 
called the Kaa Fjord; the highest peaks are three 
thousand - feet above sea-level. A fair is held here, 
in March and November, which is attended by many 
Finns and Lapps, as well as by Swedes. The boundary 
lines between Sweden and Russian Finland are not 
far distant; and a horse path runs up the valley of 
the Alten River, and across the mountains, crossing 
a strip of Russian territory into Sweden. In winter 
the route is practicable for pulks — a sort of sledge 
drawn by reindeer — as far as Tornea and Haparanda, 
at the head of the Gulf of Bothnia; a journey of 
about four hundred and thirty English miles, usually 



196 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



performed in six or seven days. There is good sleigh- 
ing, you will observe, when the fair is held at Bosekop. 
Bayard Taylor made this journey in the winter, and 
endured cold of forty and fifty degrees below zero. 
Mr. Edward Rae took this route in the summer, 
going up the Alten River, and down the Muonio 
and Tornea rivers in boats; the rest of the way on 
horseback. But he was nearly devoured by mosqui- 
toes, which, in July and August, are said to be much 
worse here than in India or Australia. How they com- 
pare with American mosquitoes I cannot say. 

Were it not for the extreme cold, a pulk journey 
would be great fun. This vehicle is like a canoe, 
narrow and rounding, with the stern cut off and turned 
up, to fit the back, and the front covered with seal- 
skin, to keep out the snow. A reindeer is attached 
to an iron ring at the front of the pulk by a single 
trace of strong leather, which is fastened to the bot- 
tom of his collar, and passes between his legs, under a 
band of cloth. A strip of sealskin goes round his 
head, tied in a knot under the left ear; to this the 
single rein, also of sealskin, is fastened. This is 
held in the right hand of the traveller, or wound about 
his wrist. There is "some knack required to keep 
it on the right side, as it is continually getting over 
to the other." There is more knack required in keep- 
ing one's self right side up, as the beginner always 
begins by being rolled over and over and over. No 
harm ensues, however, unless the reindeer runs away, 
and leaves you to follow on foot. 

The Alten Copper Works, in a valley south of the 
fjord, belong to an English company, and the gentle- 
men connected with them make themselves both agree- 



ON THE STEAMER LOFOTEN. 



I 97 



able and useful to travellers, in the absence of a regular 
station-house. A tribe of Finns or Quanes (Kvcener 
in Norsk) are settled at Alten. Murray says, "They 
are admirable boatmen; but they are not famous for 
the love of truth and honesty which generally dis- 
tinguishes the Norwegian peasant." They must have 
deteriorated since Mr. Laing's residence in Norway in 
1835; f° r he speaks of the Finns as a "harmless, inno- 
cent little folk, with many good points, and scarcely 
any evil in them. From North Cape to Roraas it is 
universally said of this despised caste, 'A Finn never 
says what is not true, nor takes what is not his 
own.' " Contact with civilization has not improved 
them, apparently. 

The steamer, like others of the line, had been round 
the North Cape, or through the straits, to Vadsoe, the 
extreme point of the route, and had brought thence, 
as passengers, a Norwegian pastor, with his wife and 
family, seven small children, and a yellow dog, re- 
joicing in the name of Vammsen. We did not learn 
the name of the family, but we saw enough of them. 
The pastor himself was a quiet little man, forever 
sucking at a short German pipe, and looking as if 
the continual enjoyment of the same had stunted him, 
mentally as well as physically. His wife was "a fine 
figure of a woman," as big as two of him, the daugh- 
ter, as we learned, of a prominent man, somewhere 
above the Arctic Circle. She was treated with great 
consideration by the Norwegian ladies on board. With 
her youngest child, a baby often months, she occupied 
a berth in the ladies' cabin, from which she rarely 
emerged. The baby was a sickly little thing, cough- 
ing and wailing pitiably; and the mother felt terribly 



198 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



aggrieved if the ventilator or portholes were opened 
in the slightest degree, by night or day. 

We woke the first morning in a state of partial 
asphyxia, from the frightful atmosphere of the cabin; 
and finding it was to be a serious matter — for all the 
Norwegian ladies supported the pastor's wife in her 
opposition to fresh air — we appealed to the captain 
for orders to the stewardess that the ventilator should 
be kept open several inches through the night. He 
consented at once, and we rejoiced in spirit; but when 
we retired to our berths about 1 1 P. M., behold the 
cabin hermetically sealed ! and, having been inhab- 
ited all day by a sick baby, and now by fourteen 
sleepers, in a space eighteen feet by eight, the state 
of the atmosphere can be better imagined than de- 
scribed. We went at once to the steward, told him 
of the captain's order, and sent him to see it executed. 
He went and returned, saying that the captain was 
sitting on the ventilator drinking his toddy, and he 
did not like to disturb him, but would open it later. 
If he did, it made little difference, for the stewardess 
closed it promptly. 

The second night was worse than the first; and it 
became a struggle for life between America and Nor- 
way. Even in the daytime no air was admitted to the 
cabin, and the pastor and his boys kept diligent watch 
of the ventilator — which, projecting some eighteen 
inches above the deck, formed a convenient seat — lest 
any of us should surreptitiously open it. If the baby 
should die on the passage — and we feared it would — 
that whole family and all the Norwegian passengers 
would lay its death to the charge of three unreasonable 
American ladies; if we died, as seemed rather likely 



ON THE STEAMER LOFOTEN. 



.199 



than otherwise, they would all have been glad to be 
rid of us. 

The other children — six boys and girls — slept with 
their nurse in the second cabin, and subsisted partly 
upon home-made provisions and partly from the 
mother's plate. We observed her one day eating her 
dinner in the cabin with all of them grouped around 
her, putting morsels alternately into their open mouths, 
like an old mother robin feeding her young. The eldest 
was but ten years of age, and they were under foot 
most of the time, with their faithful Vammsen, either 
here or on deck; though they were less of a nuisance 
than might have been expected. In the second cabin, 
however, their pillow fights and other antics were such 
a disturbance to an American woman, who had taken 
passage on the steamer from Hamburg for the entire 
trip, that the captain came to her relief and installed 
her in a vacant berth in our cabin. We found in her a 
zealous adherent to the fresh-air party; and under the 
influence of her active tongue several of the Norwegian 
ladies, who had kept quiet hitherto, began to speak 
English fluently. She described our ocean and river 
steamers, eulogized the state-rooms with their comfort 
and privacy, and dwelt emphatically upon the subject 
of ventilation. " You should come to America, and 
learn how to treat people who come to visit you," said 
she. " We do not ask the Americans to come to Nor- 
way," replied these ladies; "we do not need nor wish 
the patronage of English and American travellers." 

It is quite true that they do not; and their steamers 
are very poorly adapted for summer travel, being in- 
tended only for the ordinary coasting traffic. Would 
i*-. not pay to put a few extra steamers on the line dur- 



200 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



ing the three months when travel prevails, and let peo- 
ple see the midnight sun with some degree of comfort ? 
The passage might be greatly shortened by omitting 
the long stops for discharging and taking in cargo, or 
calling at small stations far up the fjords; and many 
more would take the journey if they were sure of com- 
fortable accommodations. 

The first two days of our return voyage were rainy, 
and we could spend but little time on deck. We sat 
in the saloon, talked and read, and made the best of 
it; but the time seemed long. Towards night, Tues- 
day, the weather began to clear; and when we reached 
Bodo, where we were to stop for several hours, some 
of our party went ashore to see the village, and walked 
several miles to visit a curious old church in the inte- 
rior if the island, coming back about midnight with 
great bunches of lovely flowers. 

They had found the little church locked, and waked 
up the sacristan, who lived near by, and, far from be- 
ing vexed at this disturbance to his slumbers, seemed 
delighted to do the honors. Around the communion 
table sat figures of the twelve apostles, in oddly carved 
chairs. On the outside wall of the church was a mon- 
umental tablet to a clergyman who died in 1660. The 
sacristan refused the money they offered him, and 
gave them, as mementos, wafers of unleavened bread, 
stamped with a crucifix and the monogram I. H. S., 
prepared for the sacrament. I suppose they had not 
been consecrated by the pastor, but it seemed a sort 
of sacrilege on his part, considering his belief. 

The Lutherans, since the time of Luther's contest 
with Zwingli, hold the doctrine of consubstantiation — 
so nearly like the Romish doctrine of transubstantia- 



ON THE STEAMER LOFOTEN. 



20I 



tion that it requires a metaphysical mind to detect the 
difference, — believing in a " spiritual and ineffable union 
of the divine nature with the elements." 

" This is my body," said Luther, as obstinate in de- 
fence of this opinion as he was before the Diet at 
Worms. "Here I stand; I cannot do otherwise; God 
help me ! " But oh ! for more such giants, with such 
inability to flinch from convictions of right and duty! 

While we waited at Bodo, the captain and other 
officers who were not engaged in the labor of dis- 
charging cargo were having a friendly time with the 
officers of a smaller steamer, which had come along- 
side to take on board passengers and freight for the 
Lofoden Islands. We had a fairly good captain; not 
such a cultivated gentleman as the captain of the Ha- 
kon Adelstein; but a pleasant, genial man; only he 
was rather too fond of his toddy. The fun grew up- 
roarious, and finding myself the only lady on deck, I 
went below; but the stifling atmosphere of the cabin 
drove me back. It grew very cold; but I got an extra 
wrap and waited for my friends. 

When we came on board at Tromsoe, we had rec- 
ognized, among the passengers, two old acquaintances, 
a gentleman and his nephew, with whom we had made 
the excursion from Naples to Paestum a few months 
previous. Mr. A. had resided in the West Indies and 
South America, and was educating his nephew, ac- 
cording to a system of his own, by travel rather than 
schooling. Wherever they went, the boy picked up 
enough of the language to talk rather fluently, but with- 
out the slightest grammatical knowledge. I doubt if 
he could have read a page understandingly, or written 
a sentence correctly. Naturally, each language thus 
q* 



202 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



acquired rubbed out the one preceding, and the boy's 
mind, after a year or two of such education, would re- 
semble a slate upon which sentences have been writ- 
ten and partially erased by the hand, one over another. 

Mr. A. had decided to take the steamer for the 
Lofoden Islands. The nephew was tired of the water, 
and anxious to get back to Bergen, so he conspired 
with the captain to keep his uncle drinking until the 
steamer had gone. They were almost successful; at 
the last moment, however, Mr. A. sprang up, seized 
his portmanteau and made his way to the boat. Then 
he missed his overcoat; the boy, who had purposely 
forgotten it, tried to make him go back for it. No, 
he would send for it; and he retained enough self-con- 
trol to carry out his determination. 

The Lofoden steamer was off, our own was ready 
to start; all the passengers had returned except the 
second-cabin American lady, who had left the other 
pedestrians and gone on explorations of her own. "I 
won't wait for her," said the captain, whose potations 
had not increased his good-nature. Just in time she 
appeared, having found a boatman to row her out to 
the steamer. This person was not a favorite with 
the captain, though he treated her kindly. 

At Vadsoe, hearing that whale's blubber was con- 
sidered very nutritious, she procured a quantity and 
brought it on board — the second-cabin passengers are 
allowed to provide a part of their sustenance, but 
expected to get one meal daily on the steamer, pro- 
visions being an extra expense for all — but the blub- 
ber proved so unpleasant to her fellow passengers 
that they complained of her, and the captain made 
her throw it overboard. 



ON THE STEAMER LOFOTEN. 



203 



From her account, we missed nothing in not going 
round to Vadsoe. It is a wretched little place, with 
a few hundred inhabitants, who enjoy a summer of 
six weeks and endure a winter of ten months. 

Vardohuus is a little fort, built by Christian IV., 
two hundred years ago, as a protection for the fisher- 
ies, and to resist Russian encroachment in the Var- 
anger Fjord. The Russian frontier is at the mouth 
of the fjord, and the sea is frozen here in winter, so 
the Russians are supposed to be very anxious to 
obtain a seaport on the western coast, near Tromsoe, 
in the Lyngen Fjord, which never freezes. 

The scenery around Bodo is very wild and grand; 
the Biri Fjeld, with its picturesque peaks, snowy ra- 
vines and black precipices lying to the southeast, 
while to the southwest the mountains tower above 
each other into the far distance. Through the day 
we had been passing the chain of the Lofoden Isl- 
ands; but the rain had prevented our enjoying the 
view, pronounced so magnificent by those who see 
them with the sunshine gilding their jagged peaks, 
which rise three and four thousand feet above the sea. 
We had rainy weather also, in coming north, and had 
stopped at Bodo while we slept. 

The view from the Sandholm, the highest mountain 
in the neighborhood, is spoken of as one of vast extent 
and surpassing grandeur. "The long range of the 
Lofodens, seventy or eighty English miles distant, 
seem like the jaws of a great shark, so many and so 
jagged are their grand points. In the foreground the 
islands, bays and lakes are countless." 

In this neighborhood, from the middle of January 
to the middle of April, are caught the millions of cod 



204 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



which form the staple article of trade on the northern 
coast of Norway. It is estimated from official returns, 
that in an average year the cod-fisheries off these 
islands are carried on by between four and five thou- 
sand boats, employing nearly thirty thousand men, 
the produce varying between fifteen and twenty-five 
millions of fish, from twenty-five thousand barrels of 
cod-liver oil upwards, according to the catch, and six 
thousand or more barrels of cod's roe. This is salted 
and exported to France and Spain, where it is used as 
bait for taking sardines. 

If you were to visit the fishermen's huts along the 
coast soon after Christmas, you would find all busy in 
preparation for the winter's campaign, men and chil- 
dren mending the nets and renewing the cords and 
lines; women sewing and washing the woollen and 
leather garments, or baking large rye loaves and " flad- 
brod" of barley and oatmeal, and packing butter, 
cheese and dried and cooked meats for three months' 
provisions. With the first favorable weather after the 
15th of January, the boats are made ready and the 
fishermen start for Lofoden. 

The permanent population of these islands is 
scarcely over twenty-five thousand; but besides their 
dwellings there are, in every sheltered bay, numbers 
of rude huts, which are let out to strange fishermen 
during the season. These huts, made of rough boards 
and covered with turf, consist of two rooms each, one 
fitted up with bunks for the fishermen, the other a 
place of storage for their nets, lines, clothing, provis- 
ions and barrels of oil and roes. From six to twelve 
people occupy each hut, and if more are crowded to- 
gether in any place than can find room in the huts, 



ON THE STEAMER LOFOTEN. 



205 



they pull their boats on shore, turn them over, and 
sleep under their shelter; but they are often obliged 
to camp out in the open air and on the snow. The 
larger boats, equipped for taking cod with nets, have a 
length of thirty to forty feet, a width often feet, with a 
mast about twenty-four feet high, to which is attached 
a large, square sail. Each boat has ten or twelve oars, 
and a crew of five men and a boy. One of the crew is 
chosen as the captain, and implicitly obeyed by the rest. 
His energy, coolness and knowledge of the channels 
are his claims to his position, which is only one of 
honor; the crew sharing equally with him in the pro- 
duce of the catch, though all purchases and sales take 
place in his name. 

The boats for fishing with lines are usually smaller, 
and the crews consist of only three or four men. The 
cordage for these nets and lines comes from the rope 
manufactories of Bergen and other towns, except the 
finer lines, which are spun by hand in the fishermen's 
houses; while the nets are made exclusively by the 
fishermen, their wives and children, their employment 
in the long winter evenings; and the hempen yarn of 
which the webs are made is also spun by them. 

The first shoals of cod usually appear in the month 
of December, on the banks outside of the Lofoden 
Islands, where the catch continues until some time in 
March; but as the ports are few and unsafe the fishing 
can only be carried on in good weather. In the West- 
Fjord, sheltered by the chain of islands, there is safe 
refuge for boats, the masses of fish come later and re- 
main longer, returning to the open sea in April. Far- 
ther north, the fishery in Finmark is of even greater 
importance, including not only cod but the capelin, 



206 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



which are caught for bait. At the end of February, 
the appearance of millions of gulls in the horizon and 
the blowing of whales in the vicinity of the North Cape 
announce that shoals of these little fishes are approach- 
ing the coast, and the cod follow in immense masses. 
The capelin are taken in sweep-nets, and as soon as 
the bait is obtained the cod-fishery begins, chiefly with 
set and hand lines. 

Until about ten years ago, this fishery was carried 
on only by the scanty population of Finmark, and a 
total catch of five or six millions was considered good; 
but now thousands of fishermen flock to Finmark, after 
finishing their Lofoden fishery, and over fifteen mil- 
lions of capelin are taken. About the end of May they 
retire towards the North Sea, followed by the masses 
of cod. Here, as in Lofoden, most fishermen work on 
their own account, sharing the expenses of boat, nets, 
lines, etc., and the produce of a season, which averages 
for each not over one hundred specie dollars. Nearly 
all the boats' crew sell the codfish to the merchants on 
the coast, or to the vessels which prepare rockfish and 
oil at the fishing places. Only those who live in the 
neighborhood hang up the stockfish to dry on their 
own account. After cleaning and cutting off their 
heads, the fish are tied by the tails, two and two, and 
hung over bars on frames, to dry in the open air. In 
Lofoden, they remain exposed until the middle of 
June, when they are dry enough to keep for years; in 
Finmark, where the catch is later, the drying continues 
until July. Rockfish is the salted cod, which is cut 
open, rubbed with salt, and packed in layers, in the 
little vessels which come to buy fish. The carp is 
taken to the interior fjords of the province of Nord- 



ON THE STEAMER LOFOTEN. 



207 



land, where the weather is more favorable for drying 
than in Lofoden or Finmark, landed, carefully washed, 
and spread out on the rocks to dry. Every evening 
it is put into large heaps in order to press out the 
water. In good weather, ten or twelve days suffice to 
dry the fish; it is then reshipped to Bergen, Aalesund, 
Christiansund and Throndhjem. 

Another cod-fishery of importance is carried on be 
tween the mouths of the Throndhjem Fjord and Cape 
Stat, by the fishermen from Romsdal, Nordmore and 
Sondmore; but as the banks are farther from shore, 
this fishing is more dangerous and laborious than in 
Lofoden and Finmark. They go out about three 
o'clock in the morning to set their nets, taking out 
the fish caught and casting the nets anew, and return 
with their catch to the shore, where they seldom 
arrive before afternoon. In April, when the nights 
are clear and the cold is less extreme, they frequently 
remain out several nights together. 

These fishermen risk their lives daily; for the 
weather changes often, and their open boats offer 
little security against wind and wave. 

Beside the cod, the coal-fish, ling, tusk, haddock, 
halibut and various other kind of fish are taken in 
large quantities; and the herring-fishery has been, 
since the ninth century, one of the most important 
sources of revenue to the country. There are two 
kinds — the winter herring and the summer herring; 
and the fish appear and disappear, and frequent dif- 
ferent places in a singular manner. Between 1850 
and i860 there were rich harvests of the winter her- 
ring. On a fine day in February one might view the 
sea, fo*" an area of a square mile, covered with one 



2o8 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



thousand to fifteen hundred boats; thousands of fish- 
ermen occupied in taking up the nets and bringing 
the herring on shore; hundreds of small vessels con- 
veying the fresh fish from the landing place to the 
salting houses. These rich fields are now desolate, 
and the annual yield, which averaged from six to 
eight hundred thousand barrels, amounted in 1874 
to less than twenty thousand. 

In later years, shoals of large red herring have ap- 
peared farther to the north, and in 1871 nearly seven 
hundred thousand barrels were taken. The shoals of 
summer herring are found all along the coast, from 
April to September. They are very irregular in their 
appearance, and seldom come in such masses as the 
winter herring, but as the fishery extends over such a 
length of coast and for seven months of the year, enor- 
mous quantities are taken ; on the average nearly two 
million barrels annually, of which about two-thirds are 
exported. 

Are you tired of a fish diet, or shall I tell you " a 
tale of potted sprats " ? Over one hundred thousand 
barrels of these little fish are taken with sweep nets, 
salted and exported every year. Anchovies are pre- 
pared from fresh sprats, with spices, salt and oil ; and 
forty to fifty thousand kegs are exported yearly, chiefly 
to Denmark and Hamburg. The mackerel-fishery is 
one of great importance, and lobsters are exported in 
large quantities. Sea crabs, prawns and oysters are 
also taken ; and artificial production of the latter is be- 
ing introduced ; sharks are taken for their livers, from 
which oil for burning and for tanners' use is prepared, 
the yearly produce amounting to eight thousand or 
ten thousand barrels. 



ON THE STEAMER LOFOTEN. 



209 



The fisheries most interesting to tourists in Norway 
are those of the salmon and salmon-trout. These are 
protected by law ; the fish may not be taken from the 
middle of September to the middle of February, neither 
in the rivers nor in the sea; the use of set lines is for- 
bidden ; the fjords and mouths of rivers must not be so^ 
obstructed with nets that the fish cannot pass. The 
minimum size of the meshes of nets is fixed at six 
centimetres between the knots, and every fish that 
does not measure eight inches in length must be im- 
mediately returned to the water. Rivers and lakes in 
which trout and salmon were not formerly found have 
been stocked with them; and in many waterfalls lad- 
ders have been arranged to facilitate the ascent of 
the fish. 

The salmon and sea-trout rise in the spring from 
the deeps outside the coast, which they inhabit during 
the winter, to run up the rivers, and spawn in the 
fresh water as soon as the ice has disappeared from 
the rivers and lakes. Towards autumn they return to 
the sea. 

They are taken in the fjords with ordinary nets 
set like cod nets, with drag nets, and in large cruives, 
floating on the surface of the water and fastened either 
to poles or to the shore; in the rivers, with the same 
implements, and also with the hook by professional 
fishermen and sportsmen, especially by Englishmen, 
who rent the right of fishing in many rivers. 

A favorite and picturesque method of capture is 
spearing the fish by torchlight, illustrated in one of 
Tidemand and Gude's paintings, in the villa of Oscars- 
hald, at Christiania. 

The produce of the fresh-water fisheries of Norway 



210 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



is estimated at $500,000 yearly; that of the salt-water, 
including cod, herring, lobsters, oil and blubber, fish 
roe and fish guano, at over $12,000,000. 

The seal-fishery is one of the great industries of 
Norway, carried on in the Arctic Sea and on the island 
of Jan Mayn by ships specially fitted for the service, 
cased in double armor of planks and iron plates to 
protect them from the ice and enable them to break 
through it. Their crews consist of forty to fifty men, 
and each ship has eight or nine boats, in which the 
hunters pursue the seals, killing them with guns and 
clubs. Each man receives a fixed part of the profits, 
which amount in all to about $500,000 yearly. Other 
ships go to the island of Spitzbergen, in pursuit of 
walruses, polar bears and porpoises, as well as seals; 
and on the island they hunt the wild reindeer, and rob 
the nests of the eider duck. These Arctic expeditions 
are full of danger, for sometimes the ships are caught 
in the ice, and the crews pass the winter there, with 
little provision and great misery, or their ships are 
shattered by the ice, and they perish of hunger and 
cold. 

The famous Maelstrom is in a narrow passage be- 
tween two of the Lofoden Islands — Moskenaes and 
Vaeroe. It used to be called the Moskoestrom, and 
in his " Natural History of Norway," written .in 1750, 
Bishop Pontoppidan alludes to the error, common even 
"among the learned," of "a bottomless sea-abyss, 
growing in the Moskoestrom, penetrating quite through 
the globe." Jonas Ramus identified it with Scylla and 
Charybdis, believing that Ulysses sailed to the coast 
of Norway. He refers to Pliny and Plutarch, who 
speak of Greeks living in the North, where the sun was 



ON THE STEAMER LOFOTEN. 



211 



visible for thirty days together; and infers that these 
Greeks were descendants of Ulysses and his sailors. 
Going farther still, and with less warrant, he proceeds 
to identify Ulysses with Outin or Odin, the founder of 
all the Scandinavian dynasties. Jonas Ramus was a 
pastor in the parish of Norderhoug, district of Ringer- 
iget, and diocese of Aggerhuus (Christiania), and 
published a " Description of Norway" in 1715.^ 

* "Dr. Charlton ('Notes and Queries,' April 3, 1858) says of the Mael- 
strom, ' Its real perils are produced by the tremendous current that rushes in 
and out of the great West Fjord, that lies between the Lofodens and the 
western coast of Norway.' 

"When the wind blows from certain quarters, particularly from the 
northwest, and meets the returning tide in the strait, the whole sea between 
Moskenaes and Vaeroe is thrown into such agitation that no boat could live 
in it for a moment. In calm weather it is only at three quarters of an hour 
before the flood tide that the boatmen venture to cross; for, with the stillest 
and most glassy water outside, the Maelstrom is dangerously agitated except 
at the period above mentioned. 

" The stories of ships being swallowed up in the vortex are simply fables; 
but any ship that became involved in the current would probably be driven 
on the sunken rocks and reefs in the strait, if it did not founder from the 
fury of the waves. The Maelstrom is quite out of the track of the Nord- 
land "jaegts," with their odoriferous cargo of dried fish, and no other' 
vessels are called upon to take this course. Nor are whales ever sucked 
down by the greedy whirlpool, though the following circumstances may ac- 
count for this part of the legend. On the island of Flagstadt, which lies a 
little to the north of Moskenaes, there is a narrow inlet, called Qualviig, be- 
tween the rocks, opposite to the farmhouse of Sund. This inlet, or passage, 
is at first extremely deep, and then suddenly shoals to about sixteen feet. 
In this narrow cleft a very considerable number of whales have, within the 
memory of man, run themselves ashore. We know not what attraction 
draws these generally wary animals to this narrow creek, for, once in the 
canal, it is impossible for the whale to retreat, as he requires a large space to 
turn his body; and, grounding with the falling tide, the huge monster is left 
there to struggle with his fate. Large whales are known to have lived eight 
days in this narrow trap, and the people say their struggles are fearful to be- 
hold. About the beginning of the present century an enormous male fish 



212 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



All along the coast, on the Lofoden Islands and 
in the smaller islands in the fjords, are the haunts of 
the eider duck, the pillaging of whose nests for eggs 
and down is one of the important industries of this 
region. The birds make their nests on the ground, of 
seaweeds, and line them with the exquisite down which 
the mother-bird plucks from her breast. She lays us- 
ually four eggs, of a pale olive green. Then cruel men 
and boys come and rob the nest. The poor mother re- 
peats her toil, again to be despoiled. This is done 
three times. After that, if further molested, the birds 
desert the place. How stupid of them not to go after 
the first outrage ! But they probably become accus- 
tomed to it, and take it for the natural order of things 
that down and eggs should disappear three times in 
succession. It is said that the mother-bird will some- 
times steal the eggs and young of others after her own 
have been destroyed, which looks as if she had taken 
a lesson from man. When she has utterly stripped 
her breast of its down, the male comes in aid with 
his down, which is white. The female's is pale drab. 
Since the law passed, in 1847, f° r the protection of 
game, wild fowl, etc., these barren islands and rocks 
have become valuable property. But how much do 
you think is obtained from a single nest by this sys- 
tem of robbery? About half a pound of down, which, 
when picked and cleaned, is reduced to a quarter ! 
And it sells for five specie dollars the pound. We 

was fast embayed there, and ere the sun was set he was followed by his 
mate, who shared his imprisonment and death. This happened at the time 
that Mr. Sverdrup occupied the farm of Sund, and from the good luck that 
befell him, from twenty whales and more being stranded here during his oc- 
cupancy, he obtained the surname of the 'King of the Lofodens.' " 



ON THE STEAMER LOFOTEN. 



213 



have been purchasing it at Throndhjem to make du- 
vets. Shall we be able to sleep comfortably beneath 
them ? 

Wednesday was fine and we enjoyed the day on 
deck, passing- Torghatten and the Hestmand and the 
Polar Circle through beautiful scenery all day. Thurs- 
day also was fine, and we were happy in the prospect 
of reaching Throndhjem and enjoying a night's repose 
in a comfortable bed and with plenty of air to breathe. 
Our nights had been purgatory or worse, though we 
began to be on better terms with the Norwegian ladies 
after we discovered their ability to speak English. 
Most of them resided in homes on the fjords, north 
of the Polar Circle, and we tried to get some idea 
from them of the long winter and of their occupations 
and amusements. 

"What time does the sun rise?" I asked, forgetting 
for the moment that in their latitude its appearance 
was not a thing of daily occurrence. 

"We begin to see it in January," was the reply. 

"Then when does it set?" was the next question. 

"About the middle of November." 

"But you have daylight — how many hours?" 

"About three hours of daylight, in the shortest 
days." 

TQ the question whether the winter did not seem 
very long and gloomy, these ladies replied, "Not at 
all; we have very social, pleasant times; a great deal 
of visiting, evening parties and other social gather- 
ings." 

"How do you dress in the winter ?" we asked, with 
a feeling that the only comfortable clothing must be 
coats of skins and fur-lined garments like those worn 



214 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



by the Lapps. "Oh, indeed! we dress as well as the 
English or American ladies," was the rather indignant 
reply. " We wear silks and muslins at our parties." 

This lady was educated and somewhat accomplished, 
speaking English and French, and playing on the pi- 
ano. She did not feel herself in the least an object of 
pity because of her polar habitation. She had droll 
ideas of American customs, derived from the reports 
of Norwegian servants who had lived in America and 
returned. " They say they like living in America. 
They are treated as 'one of the family.' You must 
have queer tastes in America. We don't treat a ser- 
vant here as 'one of the family.' The pige keeps her 
place. I should be sorry to associate with my servants." 

We explained to her that it was only among farm- 
ers, or plain people, in America, that servants were 
so treated. Yet, I think, even among such classes, 
in Norway, the distinction between mistress and ser- 
vant is more marked than with us. Although titles 
have been abolished in Norway, there remains still 
the feeling of caste, so universal in Europe. 

We reached Throndhjem about ten o'clock Thurs- 
day evening, stopping out in the harbor and going 
ashore in a small boat. We landed at the foot of 
f le hill, not far from the Victoria Hotel, and found 
Herr Ouillfeldt waiting for us, with a porter** and 
handcart for our luggage. 

"Where is the major?" he inquired (pronouncing 
it in the German fashion, mai-oi-e, so that we had 
to stop and think what he meant), and he was disap- 
pointed to find that the pleasant Irish party had not 
returned with us. 

Our comfortable rooms and nice table at the Vic- 



ON THE STEAMER LOFOTEN. 



2i 5 



toria seemed even pleasanter than before, after the 
week of steamer life. 

Brother John and his wife had taken the steamer 
to Bergen, but left word that they would probably 
wait for us there. 

On Friday we visited the bankers and obtained a 
fresh supply of cash, tried on our garments at the 
fur shop, and arranged for their being expedited to 
Dresden, picked up a few more photographs of scenery 
and costumes, enjoyed three hearty meals at Frau 
Quillfeldt's bountiful table, and sadly returned to pur- 
gatory about HP. M. The ladies' cabin was filled to 
overflowing repletion, mattresses being laid upon the 
floor, to accommodate a new party from New York. 
It is not always true that " misery loves company"; 
in our present situation we were sorry to see these 
ladies; yet they were decidedly preferable to an equal 
number of Norwegians, since they shared our weak- 
ness for ventilation. 

In the morning, to our surprise, appeared our friend, 
Miss H., whom we had left at Tromsoe, having come 
on board with her father, at the mouth of the Thrond- 
hjem Fjord, from the little steamer upon which they 
had visited the Lofoden Islands. She was engaged, 
as upon her first appearance, mermaid fashion, in 
combing her long hair, and told us pathetically that 
they had arrived too late to find any berths — every 
inch of space being covered with sleepers — and had 
been obliged to remain on deck all night. 

''Be thankful there was no room for you here!" 
said we. 

" But it was awfully cold on deck." 
" Did Dr. R. come with you ? " 



2l6 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



No ; the chemist had gone off on some exploring 
expedition, having deserted his companions, rather to 
Miss H.'s disgust, we fancied. Her father told us an 
amusing story of their adventures with a blue fox, 
which Dr. R. had purchased at Tromsoe and consid- 
ered a great acquisition; but he had been delighted 
to get rid of it a few days later. 

We reached Christiansund about noon on Saturday, 
and went ashore for a walk, as the steamer stopped 
several hours. We strolled along the beach, climbed 
a rocky hill beyond the town, where we had a pretty 
view of the fjord, and picked heather, stone-crop and 
harebells among the rocks. The town is built on three 
islands, forming nearly a circle around the harbor, and 
the ground is so uneven than very few houses stand 
on the same level. They are mostly of wood, painted 
red, and being scattered about, up hill and down, the 
place is quite picturesque. The population is about 
four thousand, and the trade consists chiefly of stock- 
fish, exported to Spain and Italy. (This must not be 
confounded with the city of ChristianiTz;^, on the south 
coast of Norway, which has a population of ten thou- 
sand, and is the fourth city in the country. Like 
Christiania, this was founded by Christian IV., in 
1 641.) 

We continued along the coast, and passed between 
the islands into the mouth of the Romsdal Fjord, as far 
as Molde, which we reached about 7 P. M. Here we 
were detained for an hour and a half, landing the party 
from Paris, with their two carriages, Italian courier 
and Norwegian interpreter, and their luggage, which 
had been stacked up under tarpaulins on deck. The 
embarkation of these carriages and our own trille had 



ON THE STEAMER LOFOTEN. 



217 



been a work of much time and trouble at Throndhjem 
the night before. As the steamer rarely goes up to a 
landing, vehicles of any description have to be put on 
a barge and towed out to the steamer, to which they 
are transferred by means of tackle worked by the 
donkey engine. 

We were not sorry for the delay, for we enjoyed a 
lovely view, across the fjord, of the snowy peaks of 
the Romsdalhorn and the Troll Tinderne. With the 
sunset glow resting upon it, this view may be almost 
as beautiful as the Bernese Oberland, seen in the Al- 
pengluhen, to which Mr. Bennett compares it. Our 
friends who landed here, including Mr. and Miss H. 
and the party who came on board at Throndhjem, 
were intending to take a small steamer up the fjord 
to Naes and go up the Romsdal. We were sorry to 
lose their society; but there is no loss without some 
gain: we succeeded to the vacant state-room. Can 
you believe that we had difficulty in persuading the 
captain to grant us this indulgence for one night ? 
He thought at first Will wanted it for himself, and 
made no objection ; but when he understood it was to 
to be occupied by three ladies, he said we must be 
very quiet about it, or the gentlemen on board would 
complain. The ladies' cabin was the place for ladies. 

There is a hospital for lepers at Molde, and Miss G., 
the blubber lady, wished to go ashore and visit it. But 
the captain objected; at least, he told her if she went 
he should not allow her to return. 

About midnight we reached Aalesund, where the 
steamer stopped for awhile. Through the day we had 
been passing through lovely scenery. There was a 
photographer on board, who placed his instrument 
10 



2l8 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



near the stern, and took a picture of the boat and 
passengers, with the wooded shore of the fjord as a 
background. Our party occupied prominent positions; 
but Blossom was absorbed in her novel, and did not 
put her umbrella down until the critical moment was 
over; so she appears in deep shadow beneath it, like 
a toad under a mushroom. The captain shows to ad- 
vantage, and the mail-agent, with a band around his 
cap; and before the house, in a tall, round-top hat, 
stands the organist from Tromsoe. This gentleman 
has been instructing us with reference to the sights of 
Bergen, impressing us especially with the necessity of 
visiting the museum. 

" What is to be seen there ? " we inquired, meaning 
what is its peculiar attraction; for we were slightly 
weary of museums. 

"What is in the museum? Everything what is in 
museums," he answers, with accents of disapproval at 
our supposed indifference. 

We were greatly amused' in watching the children 
on board. Besides the pastor's flock, there was a 
lovely little girl, who had come on with her parents at 
Throndhjem, who played with the two youngest little 
girls from Vadsoe. She had some nuts — curious, three- 
cornered things, resembling beech-nuts — which had 
been given her, I think, by the captain's daughter, a 
jolly and "smukke pige " ; Russian nuts, they called 
them, and she bestowed some of them upon her little 
companions. It was comical to see them put out their 
little hands to shake hers, and drop a courtesy, exactly 
as the grown-up women do in Norway, while saying 
"Mange dak," or u Tak skal de have." Some of their 
expressions are curiously similar in sound to the same 



ON THE STEAMER LOFOTEN. 



219 



thing in English. This little blonde maiden of perhaps 
three summers, when Will tried to allure her, tossed 
her head coquettishly and said, "Go 'way from me ! " 

"Where did you learn to speak such good English ! " 
he asked, in surprise. 

"She is not speaking English," said her mother, 
laughing: she spoke it very well herself; "that is Norsk 
— Gaae vei fra mig." 

A little south of Aalesund, on the island of Vik, 
was the Borg, or castle, of Hrolf Gangr — Rollo, or 
Rolf the Walker, so called because he was so tall 
and stout that no Norwegian horse could carry him. 
This giant — outlawed for " strandhaug," or cattle rob- 
bery along the coast, by Harald Harfager — was the 
conqueror and founder of the duchy of Normandy, 
ancestor of William the Conqueror. After several 
years of hostility, Rollo came to terms with the French 
king, Charles the Simple, became a Christian and was 
baptized as Robert, married Gisela, the king's daugh- 
ter, and was invested with the fief and title of duke 
of Normandy. 

Somewhere between Aalesund and Bergen, we 
passed the loft}' precipice of Hornelen, twelve hun- 
dred feet high, said never to have been scaled since 
the time of Olaf Tryggvesson. The legend relates 
that the king climbed it, in company with a peasant, 
who became so frightened that he could go neither 
forward nor backward, so King Olaf took him up and 
brought him safely down. I do not remember this 
precipice, and presume we must have passed it during 
the night. 

We luxuriated in our state-room, enjoying its exclu- 
siveness, though we found the quarters very close for 



220 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



three people. We were not so much troubled as our 
predecessors had been by the sun shining in at the 
port-hole. North of the Arctic Circle they had been 
obliged to sleep under parasols, though chilly under 
all their wraps. 

Sunday was a fine day and the scenery very beauti- 
ful. In the afternoon one of the gentlemen read a long 
sermon in Norsk to the assembled passengers, who 
formed a very quiet and attentive audience. I hope 
they were more edified by it than we were. The most 
pleasing incident of the day was the departure of the 
pastor and his family, who were all packed into a small 
boat, including the yellow dog, and landed at some 
place not far from Bergen, to which he had been ap- 
pointed pastor. We congratulated them on the change 
from cold and gloomy Vadsoe, to this lovely and fertile 
region, and ourselves on seeing the last of the stout 
Frau Pastorin and her sick baby. Somewhere in this 
region we took a pilot on board. I should not have 
noticed the circumstance but for its mention by the 
captain's daughter, who pointed out what she called 
" the pil-yote's boat." 

" Is that the way you pronounce it in Norsk?" 
asked Will, when he had fathomed her meaning. 

Not at all ; she supposed herself to be speaking 
English. 

As we drew near the end of our voyage, and had 
packed up our bags and bundles, we went once more 
into the ladies' cabin to say good-by to the faithful 
stewardess and give her the customary fee. 

" Far vel, Hannah. Tak skal de have ! " the Nor- 
wegian ladies were saying. 

I must not leave the Lofoten without a parting 



ON THE STEAMER LOFOTEN. 



221 



tribute to Hannah's worth. Faithful and efficient, 
always active and ready, kind and good-natured, now 
in her own domains, now helping the steward or the 
cook or the waiters, she did everything except navi- 
gate the steamer ; and I am not sure but she was 
capable of superseding the captain, at times when he 
had taken too much toddy ; in short, she was the one 
efficient person on the steamer Lofoten. 



XIII. 



BERGEN AND BISHOP PONTOPPIDAN. 
HE harbor of Bergen is surrounded by mountains, 



seven in number, varying from eight hundred to 
two thousand feet in height, and giving to the city 
its name, Bjorgvin, the meadow between the moun- 
tains. The town itself is built on seven lower hills, 
grouped about the head of the fjord, and the harbor 
is divided into two creeks by a promontory, on which 
stands the ancient castle of Bergenhuus. The square 
tower, which is the most prominent object as you 
sail up the harbor, was erected on the foundations 
of the old citadel and palace of Olaf Kyrre, who 
founded the city about eight hundred years ago, 
A. D. 1070-75. In a hundred years it had become a 
place of commercial importance, much visited by 
Dutch and English traders. 

A treaty of commerce was concluded with Eng- 
land, in 1217, by King Hakon IV., which was the 
first of the kind made by England with any foreign 
nation. 

After the establishment of the Hanseatic League, 
in 1250, several thousand German factors and artisans 
settled here, in an institution like those afterward 
founded at Bruges and Novgorod. This gave a pe- 
culiar character to the city, which soon became a 
place of the greatest commercial importance. In 1435 




BERGEN AND BISHOP PONTOPPIDAN. 223 



a monopoly was granted to the Hanseatic merchants, 
and the English were driven out; but in the middle 
of the last century the monopoly was abolished, and 
the port thrown open to all foreigners. 

Bergen retained its pre-eminence among the cities 
of Norway until within a few years, and has even 
now more trade than Christiania, though the latter 
city has double the population of the former. 

There is no landing place for large steamers, so 
we were put off in a small boat, with the usual con- 
fused piling in of luggage and passengers. (I was 
sure our precious rubber bundle of wraps had gone 
to the bottom of the fjord, having heard an ominous 
splash, and being unable to discover it in the boat; 
• but when we reached the shore it turned up.) People 
are landed at different parts of the town, according 
to the hotels they propose to patronize; so a decision 
was forced upon us at once. It was rather puzzling, 
for we had no idea where to find our friends, and had 
hoped to meet them at the landing. Knowing the 
situation better than we did, they had no idea where 
to find us; and so made no attempt. We followed 
Mr. Bennett's recommendation, and decided for Holt's 
Hotel; so we were landed at the market place, within 
walking distance, and found a porter to bring up the 
luggage. Fortunately, we had hit the right place; 
our friends were there, and had engaged rooms for 
us. As a Cook's party of twenty-five tourists occu- 
pied the house, the accommodations were limited, 
we three ladies sharing the same room; but after our 
narrow quarters on the Lofoten, this seemed palatial, 
and we accepted the inevitable with a meekness as- 
tonishing to our friends. 



224 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



We had reached Bergen about 7.30 P. M., and, after 
being settled in our rooms, the next question was sup- 
per. We found a good and plentiful table, and owing 
to the lateness of the hour we were not troubled by 
the tourists, though an English gentleman complained 
bitterly of them, "overrunning everything, like a swarm 
of locusts." It was the first invasion of the kind in 
Norway, where the conditions of travel are peculiarly 
unsuited to large parties. After supper, we sat out of 
doors, in a sort of loggia over the porch, overlooking 
the square called Engen, and the Torve Alminding, or 
Market-place. The streets are frequently interrupted 
by squares, planted with trees. These have been found 
very useful in limiting the progress of the fires which 
have often injured the city, so largely composed of 
wooden buildings. The gentlemen busied themselves 
in superintending the removal from the steamer of our 
trille, and its bestowal in a shed near by; since 
Murray warns the traveller that the people here are 
" sadly clumsy," and injury to the trille meant not 
merely expense, but detention. 

We had three days in Bergen, as the steamer up 
the Hardanger Fjord was not to leave until Thursday 
morning; so we did our sight-seeing leisurely. Our 
first visit was to the Museum, about which our Trom- 
soe friend had been so enthusiastic. There is a small 
but interesting collection of Northern antiquities, found 
in tumuli, chiefly near Vosse; some Runic inscriptions 
arid a quantity of Norwegian coins, going back to 
Hakon Adelstein, in the tenth century. A few paint- 
ings were scattered about in an upper room. With 
few exceptions, we indorsed Murray's opinion: "The 
pictures here are rubbish." A large painting of Inge- 



BERGEN AND BISHOP PONTOPPIDAN. 225 



borg, heroine of Frithiof s Saga, by a Norwegian artist, 
whose name I forget, was one of the exceptions. 

But we were interested in the Natural History de- 
partment, especially in the stuffed animals — comprising 
numerous specimens of reindeer, seals, sea calves or 
walruses, and the great elk or moose, now nearly ex- 
tinct in Norway — and in the collections of marine 
zoophytes and fishes. Some of the stuffed elk were 
seven and eight feet in height, and of an ash or hoar- 
brown color, which varies, like that of the reindeer, 
with age and the season of the year, being lighter in 
winter. The horns weigh about fifty pounds. They 
are palmated, with short points around the edge, and 
are used in winter by the elk to remove the snow from 
their feeding grounds. Though in general timid, yet 
when closely pressed, the elk will defend himself with 
both horns and hoofs, and one stroke of the latter is 
sufficient to kill a wolf. They were formerly employed 
in drawing sledges; but their use was prohibited on ac- 
count of the facility their speed afforded to criminals 
escaping justice. They cannot endure the cold of a 
higher latitude than sixty-four degrees, and are disap- 
pearing before civilization. 

In walking through the Museum one is reminded of 
Bishop Pontoppidan, not only by the curious birds and 
fishes, but also by the animals, of which he gives so 
many amusing particulars. Here are gluttons, with 
beautiful fur, but unlovely habits, eating to repletion, 
and then squeezing themselves between two trees to 
disgorge their food (this is called a slander by later 
observers); and beavers, of whose ingenuity so much 
is told. When building their dams, one of them will 
lie down and hold up his paws to be loaded with tim« 
10* 



226 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



ber, like a little cart, and his companions drag- him 
along the ground till he looses all the fur from his 
back. Otters, also with beautiful fur, are made useful 
in other ways, being trained by the fishermen to go 
out and catch fish for the family. 

Reineke Fuchs is the same crafty animal in Nor- 
way that he is in Germany, or that he was in the days 
of ^Esop. When the otter is catching fish, he hides 
behind a stone, and snatches the prey from him. A 
fisherman saw a fox, near his house, placing a parcel 
of cods' heads in a row, and concealing himself behind 
them. He watched, to see what would happen, and 
the first crow that came to eat the fish became the 
booty of the fox. Sometimes he goes fishing himself, 
dipping his long, furry tail in the water, and catch- 
ing crabs. Most ingenious is his method of ridding 
himself of fleas. He takes a wisp of straw in his 
mouth and goes backwards into the water, deeper and 
deeper, till all the fleas, retiring to the dry places, 
reach his head, and then as he dips it in the water, 
settle upon the straw, which he drops, and then runs 
away. 

The wolves, fierce as they are, are daunted when 
they meet with resistance, and are only bold and 
daring against those who flee. Even a goat, when it 
has turned and butted a wolf with its horns, has put 
him to flight. " In this case the wolf is not unlike the 
evil spirit, whom the Word of God represents to be a 
coward, and only to appear bold against the unbe- 
liever's fear, as it stands in Scripture: 'Resist the 
devil and he shall flee from you.'" He is bolder in 
winter, however, and will sometimes take a horse from 
a sledge. 



BERGEN AND BISHOP PONTOPPJDAN. 227 



The bear is a nobler antagonist, and has many al- 
most human traits; and credit is given him for almost 
human intelligence. He dislikes the cow-bells, which 
give warning to the shepherd where his cattle are 
straying, and will pick out the bell cow, tear the bell 
from her neck, and, if it be made of soft metal, strike 
it flat with his paw. He can fire off a gun, when he 
has taken it from the huntsman; and when attacked 
by several hunters, he will seize one who has already 
fired, hug him, and roll with him down a bank, leav- 
ing the man disabled or dead. Sometimes, when him- 
self mortally Avounded, he " endeavors to rob the 
huntsman of his hide, which he knows he has come 
for, by laying hold of a large stone and plunging 
into deep water." He is a good swimmer, and will 
go into a river and catch fish. 

Jonas Ramus says that the white bears in Finmark 
are of Greenland extraction, having crossed on ice fields 
and by swimming. When they are tired of swimming, 
and see a boat, they will climb into it, and "sit in the 
stern quite quiet and peaceable." The peasant will not 
allow this if he can row fast enough to avoid it; and, 
if he has an axe, the bear's paws suffer. If hit by a 
ball in the chest, or under the shoulder, or in the ear, 
he falls; any other wound makes him fierce. If the 
huntsman has not a bayonet on his gun, he must 
thrust his knife down the bear's throat. 

Soon after Michaelmas, the bear seeks his den, 
makes himself a soft bed of moss, and hides the open- 
ing with branches, and lets himself be snowed up. In 
spring, his paws, which he has sucked, are soft and 
lame, and his stomach weak from long fasting. He 
seeks an ants' hillock, which he swallows whole ; 



228 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



"this scowers his inside, and cleanses and strength- 
ens his stomach." 

The old Norwegian statutes decreed that "the bear 
and wolf shall be outlaws in every place"; but even 
Bruin had his judicial privileges, and if he had com- 
mitted robbery or injury, a court was summoned, and 
he was declared liable to punishment. In the ancient 
Saga of "Finboga Rama" the grizzly offender is chal- 
lenged to a duel, and slain by Finbog with all the 
courtesies of chivalry. Werlauff, the editor of this 
Saga (Copenhagen, 1812), says,' " The opinion that 
bears have a reasonable knowledge of Danish is still 
prevalent in Norway." 

(The names of Bjorn and Bjornson, so common in 
the North, are traced to a legendary king of Sweden, 
whose father was a bear, or some rough outlaw in a 
bearskin, who had carried off a beautiful maiden to 
his den. Thorpe gives the story in his " Northern 
Mythology.") 

The polar bears do not seem to hibernate, and when 
pressed by hunger, are very daring in their attacks. 
A story is told of two Russian hunters who were play- 
ing checkers in their hut at Spitzbergen, when a great 
white paw pushed through the window pane, and seized 
one of them by the neck to drag him out. Fortunately, 
the man escaped with the loss of a handful of hair. 

The good bishop was a born naturalist, and as he 
had much spare time on his hands during his circuits 
in the diocese of Bergen, which occupied two or three 
months at a time, he spent part of it conversing with 
guides and drivers, talking over their information with 
the pastors, whose homes he visited, and collecting 
"stones, ores, fossils, sea-trees, corals, snails, mussels, 



BERGEN AND BISHOP PONTOPPIDAN. 



229 



uncommon birds, fishes, and the like." There was a 
difficulty about the fishes; for the superstitious natives 
called any monstrous or unusual specimens "trolls" 
or "devils," and threw them overboard directly, think- 
ing that unless they did so their fishing would be un- 
successful, or something amiss would certainly befall 
them. In his enormous folio, * he gives illustrations of 
the fishes and birds he had been able to procure, as 
well as of " sea-trees and corals," and some unusual 
plants. He gives a list of two hundred and forty 
flowering plants, with their common and botanical 
names (he was acquainted with the works of his con- 
temporary, the great botanist, Carl Linnaeus), describes 
the berries and small fruits, and enumerates some 
twenty species of trees, with their uses and virtues. 
For example, elm bark, dried, ground and mixed with 
meal, is used as food by the peasants, for themselves 
and their animals. The birch is used for fuel, and its 
bark for covering roofs and tanning skins; while from 
the sap and the young buds is distilled a healing 
balsam. The Norway oak excels all but the Danish 
for ship-building, and a decoction of oak leaves in beer 
is good for gout or rheumatism. The broad-leaved 
willow is called by the peasants "the tree under which 
the devil flayed the goats," whether because the goats 
are fond of stripping off its leaves, or from their woolly 
under-surface, he is not quite certain. He gives some 
instances from which he thinks there is reason to be- 
lieve that barley degenerates into oats, and oats im- 
prove to barley, as wheat changes to tares, good oats 
to wild, and nutmegs to walnuts in Europe ! Among 

* A copy, published in London in 1755, may be seen in the Astor Li- 
brary, in New York. 



230 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



the illustrations is one of the method of drying grain 
— six or eight sheaves fastened to a pole, and frames 
for hay (" hoef-giers "), exactly like those seen to-day 
in the Romsdal. 

He complains of the superstition which leads the 
peasants to use sledges instead of wagons, because 
their fathers did. " They will not remove a stone 
which their fathers have suffered to lie," and in such 
stony places "use a crooked stick with an iron at the 
end, instead of a plough." 

Although he can be amused by the mistakes of 
other people, who call barnacles " ducks growing on 
trees," the bishop tells some pretty tough stories of 
his own, but with firm faith in their verity. " The 
reader will meet with many strange, singular and un- 
* expected things here, but all of them strictly true." 

He believes in sea animals resembling human beings 
— the missing link between them and the fishes, which 
the gorilla appears to be between man and quadrupeds 
— which have given origin to the stories of mermen 
and mermaids. Mr. Peter Angel, minister of a parish 
in Sundmoer, told the bishop that, in 17 19, he saw at 
Alstahoug, in Nordland, what was called a merman, 
lying dead, which had been cast ashore by the waves. 

It was about three fathoms long (six feet), of a dark 
gray color, the lower part like a fish, and tail like a 
porpoise; face like a man's, with forehead, eyes, flat 
nose, mouth; arms joined to the side by thin mem- 
branes, and paws like a sea-calf. Torfaeus relates in- 
stances of mermen being seen on the coast of Iceland, 
and in 1670 mermaids were reported at the Faroe 
Islands. In 1723 three ferrymen were examined be- 
fore a magistrate at Elsinore, and testified to seeing 



BERGEN AND BISHOP PONTOPPIDAN. 



231 



a merman between Hveen and Siidland. He ap- 
peared like an old man^ strong limbed, and with 
broad shoulders, small head, with short, curled black 
hair, meagre and pinched face, and black beard. Lit- 
tle animals, seeming like a mixture of child and fish, 
are sometimes caught and taken home by fishermen, 
who give them milk, which they swallow eagerly; but 
they are always put back within twenty-four hours, 
precisely in the place where they were caught, for fear 
of misfortune. 

The sea-serpent in the Miosen Lake is alluded to 
by the bishop, upon Peter Clausen's authority; but of 
one seen near Molde, in 1746, he gives a particular 
description. 

Captain Lawrence de Ferry, who had command of 
the Norwegian fleet cruising off the coast, himself re- 
lated this experience to the bishop. The head, two 
feet out of water, was shaped like that of a horse, 
gray, with black eyes and mouth and a white mane; 
and several folds or coils of the body were seen. He 
shot at it, when it sank and was not seen again. Hans 
Egede, of the Greenland Mission, reported a sea-ser- 
pent nearly six hundred feet long, in 1734. Bishop 
Pontoppidan thinks this animal the leviathan of Script- 
ure, and believes also in the existence of the kraken, 
greatest of sea monsters, to which he refers the stories 
of floating and disappearing islands.* 

All these monsters, including the mermen and 
mermaids, seem to have retreated into unexplored 
regions, before that modern leviathan, the ocean 

* There is a manuscript affidavit in the British Museum, made in 1775, by 
the master of a vessel, named Jameson, that he saw near Rothshire what seemed 
to be an island, a mile and a half in length, rising and sinking in the water. 



232 



A SCANDINAVIAN' SUMMER. 



steamer, as the crocodiles of the Nile now keep 
themselves above the first cataract. Perhaps the 
crocodiles of Egypt and India may become, in time, 
as apocryphal as the serpents and krakens of the 
northern seas. 

Pontoppidan's authorities, besides his own expe- 
rience and the "observations of intelligent persons," 
were "Writings Relating to Norway." The works of 
Jonas Ramus and Peter Clausen have already been 
quoted. Another work is the "True Description of 
Norway and the Adjacent Islands," by Peter Nicholas 
Undalin, or Undal (the translator of Snorre Sturleson's 
Sagas from the Icelandic, or Old Norsk, into Danish), 
who also wrote a "History of the Beasts of Norway," 
which was accidently burned, in manuscript, while in 
the hands of a friend. The "True Description" was 
published at Copenhagen, in 1632, after the death of 
the author. The bishop gives an extract from a letter 
of Mr. Jens Spidberg, a clergyman at Christiansand, 
who was also interested in natural history, and pre- 
paring a work on Norway, to which he was impelled 
by reading Scheuchzer's "Natural History of Switzer- 
land." He says, "In 1745, Count Reuss, then governor 
here, ordered the literati to send in an account of every 
particular, in their several countries, which might con- 
tribute to the melioration of the soil, or the improve- 
ment of agriculture." Such accounts were prepared, 
but he is ignorant what use was made of them. "Bar- 
on Lowendhal, commander-in-chief during our last 
war (1750), ordered me to prepare a map of the coun- 
try, and the frontiers between Norway and Sweden." 

All of Spidberg's papers and his library of "six 
thousand volumes in all languages and sciences," were 



BERGEN AND BISHOP PONTOPPIDAN. 233 



destroyed by fire, in Christiansand, in 1734. He had 
published "two little pieces," one in Holland, "De 
Causa et Origine Ventorum," the other at Hall in 
Saxony, "Of the North Light." 

The good bishop seems to fear that the devotion 
of so much time to the natural sciences may be deemed 
unfitting to his profession, and takes pains to assure 
his readers that his "principal motive is to promote 
the glory of the Creator by a contemplation of his 
works." Believing, as he does, that "Norway surpasses 
other countries, not only in its inanimate treasures, 
such as metals, minerals and vegetables, but in vari- 
ous kinds of beasts, birds and fishes, particularly the 
last"; that it has the most healthful climate in the 
world, the loftiest mountains, and that the inhabitants 
are in every way most blessed of Heaven, he labors 
to impress that belief upon his readers. Even the ex- 
treme cold of the long winters, which last from the 
middle of October till the middle of April, has a beau- 
tiful effect on the system. "It drives the heat inward, 
and especially strengthens the stomach, so that the 
people can digest dried and salt'fish, smoked flesh" an& 
other tough edibles, "better than any other nations." 
The "benefits of the snow" are twofold. "1. Con- 
venience of travelling on snowshoes and in sledges," 
under which head he describes the two sort of snow- 
shoes — those made of withies, broad and rounded, and 
long, thin pieces of wood, called skris. On these the 
skriders pass swiftly over the snow and ice, and a reg- 
iment of six hundred men were stationed at Thron- 
dhjem, "in war time," equipped in this manner. The 
second benefit of the snow is its service to the soil as 
manure. 



234 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



Of the moderate weather along the coast, where 
"the North Sea is open and navigable as far as 82 , 
except in the creeks and along the shore," and "the 
harbors of Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Hamburg and 
Liibeck are frozen ten times oftener than ours," he 
speaks not only as a benefit, but an "absolute neces- 
sity," giving the reasons on account of the fisheries, 
"first to catch, and next to cure, both of which would 
be impossible in frosty weather." Even the rainy 
weather in Bergen, the wet days averaging nearly two 
out of three, has its benefits; "it assists vegetation, 
and gives good draughts of fish." " One of my chief 
views in this work is to show that all the works of 
God are full of loving kindness." 

The Gulf Stream was apparently not understood^ 
but he suggests that the warmness of the water was 
caused by "warm springs at the bottom of the sea, 
continually boiling by means of the central fire." 
However produced, the moderate climate at Bergen is 
a matter for gratitude. "When Bergen harbor freezes, 
the Seine freezes at Paris," and in exceptionally cold 
winters inland there is little difference on the coast. 
Two weeks of sledging in succession is very unusual. 
Although it was thought by some that the dampness 
was unwholesome, "issuing from off the sea, and set- 
tling between the mountains, from whence it cannot 
be easily dissipated," it appears that in 1730 there were 
only two physicians in Bergen to thirty thousand peo- 
ple, and they seemed to be quite sufficient. 

Physicians in the chief towns had "a public salary 
as provincial physicians, and, in general, but little em- 
ployment. People owe their good health more to the 
air than to medicine." 



BERGEN AND BISHOP PONTOPPIDAN. 235 

Some famous instances of longevity are given. The 
most remarkable, quoted from Jonas Ramus, is Anden 
Evindson, bishop of Havanger, who died about 1440, 
in the 210th year of his age. Adrian Rotker, for sev- 
enty years alderman of Throndhjem, died at the age 
of 120. The minister of Holtvalen at the age of 150, 
and Hans Aasen, who first erected copper works at 
Roraas, died in 1683, age 116. Peasant women are 
mentioned, in different parts of Norway, as attaining 
the ages of 112, 127 and 137 years. The healthiness 
of the Gudbrandsdal, from which people who were tired 
of life "got themselves removed, in order to die the 
sooner," has already been mentioned. 

The winter of 17 19 was one of terrible cold. In 
February, a body of seven thousand Swedish soldiers, 
endeavoring to make their way back to Sweden across 
the mountains, after the death of Charles XII. at Fried- 
richshald, were overwhelmed by a snowstorm, on the 
mountain of Ruden, and discovered by a body of Norwe- 
gian runners who pursued their retreat, frozen to death, 
''some sitting, some lying down, some in a posture of 
prayer." 

In Pontoppidan's time there were Scotch settlers 
near Bergen, in a district called " Skotte-Byen," and 
the "Strile farmers" were thought to be of Scotch 
extraction; probably dating from the days of the Scotch 
marriages of Erik, or the conquests of Magnus Barefoot 
and Hakon IV. There were a good many Scotch and 
English settlers at Christiansand. He describes the 
fisheries, and speaks of the genius of the peasants in 
wood-carving. "In former times, the Norwegian youth 
were trained to wrestling, swimming, riding, rowing, 
throwing the dart, skating, climbing rocks and forging 



236 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



iron, writing Runic characters, blowing the horn and 
composing songs and odes." One of their musical 
instruments was called the "langleek"; it was made 
by stretching six brass wires over a sounding-board 
four feet long and six inches broad. The violin was 
most admired, and was played at funerals, the musi- 
cian sitting all day at the head of the coffin; and 
was also played when the coffin was carried in a boat 
to the place of burial. 

There was an old custom in the diocese of Chris- 
tiansand of asking the deceased "why he died? if 
his wife was not kind to him, or his neighbors civil to 
him ? " In some places in Laerdal, every one that 
comes into the room where the corpse is, falls on his 
knees at the coffin and begs forgiveness from the de- 
ceased if they have offended him. The minister has 
told them it is very foolish and too late to ask forgive- 
ness at such a time, but he can hardly break off such 
an inveterate custom. 

He speaks of the hospitality of the people, keeping 
open house for three weeks at Christmas, and the 
pretty custom of hanging up a sheaf of grain for the 
birds; commends them for their civility and courtesy, 
and their faithfulness and honesty, and unwilling- 
ness to remain in debt. "Every Norwegian peasant, 
especially the freeholder that can pay his taxes, 
governs his house and possessions with as much au- 
thority as a nobleman; nobody directs or governs him. 
This gives them a certain freedom and generosity of 
mind." 

After leaving the Museum we visited the Art Union 
Gallery, where we found some fine landscapes and 
other good pictures; but, like those in Christiania, the 



BERGEN AND BISHOP PONTOPPIDAN. 237 



prices were higher than we cared to pay, although we 
desired such a memento of Norway. We shopped for 
photographs and fancy articles, dolls dressed in peas- 
ant costumes, and silver, both ancient and modern. 
Old spoons, like the apostle spoons one sees in Ger- 
many, but of less elaborate workmanship, are sold to 
the dealers by the people who emigrate to America, 
as well as ornaments, brooches, buckles, knives with 
carved handles, etc. Prices are high, but perhaps not 
above the value of these antiques, which are heavy 
and solid, as well as curious. The modern silver was 
very pretty, and moderate in price. 

On Wednesday we visited the fish-market as Murray 
advises; but I think we were late, for the trade was 
not very brisk. It is carried on directly from the 
boats, the fishermen holding up their wares for the 
inspection of customers standing on the wharf. We 
saw no fish of the size illustrated in photographs, 
where a man carries one with the head on his shoulders 
and the tail trailing on the ground. 

We were not in season to see the curious, square- 
rigged "jaegts," which have been built on the same 
model for centuries, with great breadth of beam, and 
huge, square sails. It has been supposed that they 
resemble the piratical ships of the old Norsemen; but 
it is established that their "dragons" and other war 
ships were long galleys with twenty or thirty benches 
of oars; more like the Greek and Roman war ships 
than these clumsy jaegts. In March and April, when 
they arrive with their cargoes of fish from the Lofodens 
and Finmark, the harbor is crowded with these pictur- 
esque vessels, sometimes six or seven hundred in 
number. The old warehouses, formerly occupied by 



2 3 8 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



merchants and artisans from the Hanse towns, are 
now used for storing the stock fish. 

These buildings occupy the whole eastern side of 
the harbor, and form what is known as the Tydske- 
briggen, German Bridge or quay. They are built in 
the style of the North German towns, from which the 
merchants came, Lubeck, Hamburg and Bremen, and 
although reduced to ashes in the great fire of 1702 were 
rebuilt in the same style. There are sixteen "gaarde," 
each divided into apartments, which contain a central 
hall and sleeping rooms. 

Here lived three thousand merchants and artisans, 
in an enforced celibacy, which resulted in a deplorable 
state of morals; so that, during the fifteenth and six- 
teenth centuries, the reputation of Bergen was some- 
thing dreadful. 

In other ways this foreign population was a curse to 
the native inhabitants. They not only had a mono- 
poly of trade, but were governed by their own statutes, 
independent of local jurisdiction. In 1455 the king's 
bailiff, having provoked their resentment by attempt- 
ing to check some overstrained exercise of their priv- 
ileges, was pursued by an enraged multitude and com- 
pelled to take refuge in a church. This was set on fire, 
and, with an adjoining convent, was burned to ashes, 
the bailiff and the bishop of Bergen both perishing in 
the flames. This outrage was not punished by the 
State, but was afterwards avenged by the relatives 
of the victims. 

Many descendants of these Germans live in Bergen 
— the northern part of the town being still called the 
German quarter — and keep up the language and cus- 
toms of their fatherland, as much as possible, to this 



BERGEN AND BISHOP PONTOPPIDAN 239 



day. Until within a few years they had German ser- 
vices and preaching in their old church — the Church 
of St. Mary the Virgin. It is the most ancient in Ber- 
gen, and is spoken of by Snorre Sturleson as existing 
in 1 181. It is now in process of restoration, and we 
found it occupied by workmen; but were allowed to 
wander about at our pleasure. It is of mixed orders 
of architecture; the nave Roman, the choir Gothic; 
having been constructed and reconstructed at differ- 
ent periods. There are wood-carvings in the chancel, 
the most curious being a flying angel, the size of life, 
holding the baptismal font suspended in front of the 
altar. 

In the middle ages, Bergen was a city of churches 
and convents, containing thirty- two, of which only three 
remain — the cathedral, belonging in the middle ages 
to a Franciscan monastery, the church of the cross, 
and this old German church. The great Christ Church, 
with the tombs of several kings; the beautiful Church 
of the Apostles, finished in 1302, a copy of the Sainte 
Chapelle at Paris; with churches dedicated to St. Olaf, 
St. Columba, St. Martin, St. Nicholas, St. Michael, and 
St. Halward, have all vanished, as well as the con- 
vents. A fire in 1488 destroyed eleven churches in 
Bergen, and the greater part of the town. As the 
Reformation was introduced into Norway not long 
after, it is not likely that many of these churches 
were rebuilt. Destructive fires have often raged in 
Bergen, as in the other timber-built cities of Norway. 
In 1855, one hundred and eighty houses were burned, 
and nothing but the large market-place checked the 
progress of the flames. 

In Pontoppidan's time, 1750, only four of the build- 



24-0 



« 

A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



ings on the Tydske-briggen belonged to Germans, the 
others being the property of Norwegian merchants, 
who employed German clerks; and in 1763 the last 
was sold to a Norwegian. 

The largest of the convents was the Munkeliw, 
founded by the Benedictines, but afterwards passing 
into the hands of the Brigittines. The " Lunge gaard," 
near the city gate, was a convent of Cistercian nuns. 
After the Reformation, which was peacefully intro- 
duced under Christian III., in 1536, all monastic es- 
tablishments were suppressed, and Church property 
made over to the crown, forming a fund of about three 
million dollars, which is employed for the payment of 
pastors' salaries and educational purposes. Until 1845 
only Lutheran places of worship were allowed in Nor- 
way; but in that year an act of religious toleration 
was passed which gave religious liberty to all Chris- 
tians. A Roman Catholic mission had been estab- 
lished a few years earlier at Alten-gaard, beginning 
with a school, which was n'ot prohibited by the law; 
but the fathers have made but few converts. The 
first Catholic Church in Norway — that of St. Olaf, 
in Christiania — was consecrated Aug. 24, 1856. The 
one in Bergen, recently erected, is a stone building 
in Roman style, near the Museum. 

Jews were excluded from Norway until 1851, when 
an act was passed admitting them on conditions of 
equality with Christians, since which time they have 
rapidly increased in number. 

Mormons are an exception to the act of toleration, 
and most of them have emigrated to America. 

Bergen is celebrated for its charitable institutions, 
asylums for old citizens, old wardens, old sailors, wid- 



BERGEN AND BISHOP PONTOPPIDAN 241 



ows, and the insane, besides hospitals for lepers, and 
for those suffering from ordinary diseases. Beside 
sustaining these public institutions, the city appro- 
priates the sum of thirty thousand dollars annually to 
the benefit of the poor and sick. Vagrant and crimi- 
nal children are sent to homes in the country. Public 
inspectors of the poor serve, without pay, for a terrn^ 
of four years. 

There are sixteen ''people's schools" in Bergen, 
supported at an expense of $6,000 annually, and at- 
tended by nearly two thousand scholars. The salary 
of an upper teacher is $200; of an under teacher $100. 
Boys are taught in the morning, and girls in the after- 
noon, three hours each.* 

From the German church we walked to the old 
square stone tower, like a Norman keep, the strong- 
hold of the old citadel, which has recently been re- 
stored and is now used as an armory. It is about sixty 
feet by forty in size, and perhaps a hundred in height. 
We mounted to the roof and obtained a fine view of 
the city. The soldier who escorted us over the tower 
took us afterward to a large hall, built of massive 
timbers which had lost its roof. Mr. Bennett speaks 
of it as being "in the old English pointed-arch style, 
and very similar to an English mansion in its interior 
arrangements." It was built, he says, by King Hakon 
Hakonson, 1247-1261, and is the oldest of secular 
buildings in the three Scandinavian kingdoms. The 
tower was built by the same king but enlarged by 
Scotch builders in 1565. 

* I take these statistics from Mr. Brace's work, "The Norse Folk," 
published in 1857. Changes may have been made, during the twenty years 
since. Perhaps the teachers have larger salaries ! 
II 



242 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



These buildings doubtless occupy the site of the old 
castle built in the citadel by King Olaf III. when he 
founded the city. The fortress is still occupied, con- 
sisting of three bastions and a ravelin towards the town 
and three bastions and two batteries toward the sea, 
and, with a strong fortress on the hill across the har- 
bor, protects the town from assaults by water. 

As Bergen played an important part in the civil 
wars which raged in Norway during the twelfth and 
thirteenth centuries, when rival parties contended for 
its possession, and it was often the scene of fierce 
conflict, so the harbor and the fjord were, from 
yet earlier times, the scene of naval engagements. 
The Baltic Sea had swarmed with pirates, from the 
time of the Jomsburg vikings and the Wends to that 
of the Vitalians, against whom the ships of the Hanse 
Republic maintained vigorous warfare. These invad- 
ers attacked Bergen, at different times, in 1181 and 
94, in 1393 and '95, and the Vitalians, under their 
famous leader, Bartholomew Voit, in 1428 and '29. 

The last sea fight in Bergen harbor of which I find 
mention was in 1665. During the war between Eng- 
land and Holland, the English fleet, commanded by the 
earl of Sandwich, pursued the Dutch under Admiral 
Von Bitter, into the harbor, where they took shelter 
under these fortifications, and the English were forced 
to retire. Some of their shot are still to be seen in 
the walls of the fortress and the square tower. 

The climate of Bergen is remarkably damp, as well 
as mild. As on the west coast of Scotland and Ire- 
land, there is almost constant rain for nine months of 
the year — two hundred rainy days is the average 
number. There is everything in one's way of looking 



BERGEN AND BISHOP PONTOPPIDAN. 



243 



at things; like good Bishop Pontoppidan, we may feel 
that the rain is good for the soil and the fishing, or 
we may realize only that it interferes with our pleas- 
ure. To us, seeing it only in sunshine, Bergen was a 
picturesque and pleasant city, and its situation seemed 
charming; but a recent visitor records a very different 
impression. "The little town is perched, in a most 
uncomfortable situation, on a rocky steep, incessantly 
beaten by terrific rains, and at the mercy of all the 
storms which gather and break on the North Sea. 
Why the town is not washed away seems a marvel." 
Decidedly, this writer must have visited Bergen in 
very rainy weather. 

A similar experience must have befallen the Eng- 
lish ladies who, after a stormy passage, were roused 
from sleep, the first night in Bergen, by the unex- 
pected horror of the watchmen's cry: 

" I woke suddenly, my heart beating wildly with 
fright, to find the room quite dark, and filled with a 
sound so unearthly that for an instant I dared not move. 
The cry ceased and rose again, — long, weird, melan- 
choly, discordant. Before it died away I was at the 
window with Janet, who was equally startled, and had 
hurried to my room that we might meet the catastrophe 
together. Again it came; this time louder, nearer, — 
was taken up at some distance, swelled into a horrid 
chorus, and ceased just as all the clocks struck twelve. 
Imagine a number of donkeys, lunatic, heart-broken 
and gifted with articulation, parading the streets at 
dead of night, to awake the inhabitants with the in- 
formation that the clocks are soon expected to strike, 
that the wind is blowing (generally) southwest, and 
consequently rain pouring from a cloudy sky, but that 



244 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



otherwise 'all's well,' and everybody may go to sleep 
again — imagine all this, and you have an idea what 
the Bergenese endure, every hour of every night, all 
the year round. I never hear it without thinking of 
the dead-carts plying through the streets of a plague- 
stricken city, to the doleful cry, 'Bring out your dead! "' 

That cry, too, has been not unfamiliar to the streets 
of Bergen. The plague called the black death, which 
made such ravages in Norway in 1349, was introduced 
into Bergen by an English ship which had been driven 
into the harbor. In the years 1600, 1618, 1629 and 
1637 Bergen was again visited by this fearful scourge. 

Lord Dufferin, in his "Letters from high Latitudes," 
gives a poetical version of the first arrival of the black 
death. He makes the ship a Norwegian vessel, which 
had been missing for several years, and the people, 
recognizing it, crowded on board to welcome their 
friends, and found the ghastly corpses of the crew, 
and the fearful visitor who returned with them to 
devastate the whole country. In Throndhjem, the 
archbishop and the whole of the chapter died, with 
the exception of one canon. Solomon, bishop of 
Osloe, was the only bishop who survived in Norway. 
The city of Hamar, on the Mjosen Lake, was nearly 
depopulated, and some inland towns entirely so. 

Domestic animals were also smitten with the plague; 
the peasants, deprived of their cattle, could not cul- 
tivate the land, and plague was followed by famine. 
Many districts became waste, and forests sprang up 
where cultivated fields and even villages had once 
been. Several hundred years ago a hunter, follow- 
ing his game, came upon walls overgrown with weeds 
and bushes, and a deserted house, with a grove of 



BERGEN AND BISHOP PONTOPPIDAN 



245 



young trees, springing from the roof. He entered 
and found skeletons. Other houses were found near. 
The oldest men in the neighborhood remembered a 
tradition of a settlement here, near the Mjosen Lake. 
The dead were buried, the forests cleared, and new 
houses erected, and the place was called Mustad. It 
is about half way between the head of Rands Fjord 
and the Mjosen Lake. A church was discovered in 
Valders, called Bear Church, from the incident of a 
hunter tracking a bear into a dense thicket, and finally 
shooting it inside the ruined church, where it had made 
its winter lair. The bear's skin is still preserved in the 
church, which may be visited at Ildjarnstad, not far 
from Lake Spirillen. 

Similar incidents, of churches discovered in the for- 
ests, occurred in Sweden, in Wermeland and Skaganas; 
the plague having arrived there the following year, and 
thence travelled to Western Russia, in 1352. Jonas 
Ramus, in his "Norges Beskrivelse," relates that Juste- 
dal, in Bergen Stift, was settled by people flying be- 
fore the infection, who all perished, except one little 
girl; who grew up in solitude, wild as a bird, and when 
she was discovered, received the name of Ripa, the 
Grouse. She grew up, and married, and her descend- 
ants were called the Ripa family. 



i 



XIV. 



OLD NORSE KINGS IN BERGEN. 
HE founder of Bergen, King Olaf Kyrre, "The 



Tranquil," is so called because his reign of 
twenty -one years was a peaceful one; an unusual 
thing in Norwegian history. He appears in English 
history, at the battle of Stamford Bridge, having ac- 
companied his father, Harald Hardrada, in an invasion 
at the solicitation of Earl Tostig, brother of the Eng- 
lish Harold. Both Tostig and Harald Hardrada were 
slain in this battle, and Olaf fell into the hands of the 
conqueror, with the whole of the Norwegian fleet; but 
he was set free, and allowed to depart with twenty 
ships — the fleet had numbered five hundred — after 
swearing to maintain friendship with England. Only 
three weeks later, Harold fell at the battle of Hastings, 
and Norman William, descendant of Norwegian Rollo, 
became king of England. 

The oath of friendship counted for nothing after 
Harold's death, or else it was construed as requiring 
allegiance to Saxons rather than Normans; for Olaf 
joined Knut of Denmark and Count Robert of Flanders 
in equipping a great expedition against William to as- 
sist the Anglo-Saxons in throwing off the Norman 
yoke. A fleet of nearly a thousand sail was collected 
at the Lym Fjord; but the English king had intrigued 




OLD NORSE KINGS IN BERGEN 247 



with the different nobles connected with the expedition, 
and the project was abandoned. The Norwegian aux- 
iliaries returned, and, except for the customary ex- 
peditions against Baltic pirates, which were measures 
of self-defence, Olaf warred no more. 

In selecting Bergen harbor as the site of a town, 
he may have been influenced by its advantages for 
ship-building, as Olaf Tryggvesson was in founding 
Nidaros. The ships of the Norsemen, at this period, 
were perhaps superior to those of any other nation. 
From the rude boats of the Suevi, described by Taci- 
tus, which were without sails and with a prow at each 
end, so as to move without turning (excellent for the 
narrow channels in the fjords, and anticipating the 
modern ferry-boat), or those of the first Norse invaders 
of England, — broad bottomed, with keels of light tim- 
ber, and upper-work of wicker, covered with hides, — 
they had advanced to the construction of large vessels, 
built of oak, manned by numerous rowers, and carry- 
ing several hundred men. 

Snorre Sturleson gives descriptions of Olaf Tryg- 
gvesson's "Lang Ormen," or Long Serpent, — with 
thirty-four benches of rowers, the "largest ship built 
in Norway," with prow and stern carved into likeness 
of a dragon's head and tail, and overlaid with gold, — 
and the "Bison" of St. Olaf, not inferior in size or 
splendor; and Harald Hardrada's royal ship, with 
thirty-five benches of rowers, the size of the Long 
Serpent and like it, with gilded dragon's head and 
tail, "with three masts and everything of the best, 
sails, rigging, anchors and cables." The large, square 
sails were adorned with stripes of red, green, and blue, 
and the red and white shields of the warriors were 



248 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



hung around the rail, overlapping like scales. On the 
high decks of the forecastle and the poop were the 
places of the fighting men, clad in red tunics and shin- 
ing chain armor. A fine appearance such a war ship 
must have made, gliding through the fjords ! 

Under the feet of the rowers, in the waist of the ves- 
sel, were stowed arms, provisions, clothing, stones for 
slinging, etc., under movable hatches; here, in battle, 
were laid the wounded, in ghastly heaps; " backs up 
and faces down, under the the row-seats." The crew 
slept on this lower deck, under a tent, if they did not 
land at night, but oftener under tents on shore. In 
these ships, the vikings were sometimes buried, a mound 
of earth heaped above them. 

The origin of the Scandinavian marine is ascribed 
to Odin, whose wonderful Skidbladnir, made by the 
dwarfs, though large enough to hold all the gods, 
could, when they had landed, be folded up and put in 
the pocket. Modern improvements in ship-building 
have not yet rivalled the convenience of this arrange- 
ment for transporting an invading army; though the 
other magical property of the Skidbladnir, — of direct- 
ing its own course wherever the gods desired to go — 
has been substantially afforded by the invention of 
steam. * 

? In the Royal Museum at Christiania are the remains of a viking's ship, 
found in 1 87 1, in the parish of Tune, on a branch of the Glommen River. 
The keel is about forty-five feet long, of a single piece, and thirteen feet 
wide amidships. A square beam of oak lay across five ribs, in the middle, 
and above this was a larger beam, with a square hole through both, in which 
the stump of the fir mast was still standing. The rudder, of the same wood, 
lay across the vessel, behind the mast. Near this were found unburnt bones 
of man and horse, snow-skates, and fragments of a carved saddle. A smaller 
ship ha/ 1 been found at Nydam, in 1863, and quite recently (in 1880), a larger 



OLD NORSE KINGS IN BERGEN 



249 



The coasts were divided into districts, each of which 
furnished a certain number of ships, and these were 
manned by conscription. If the yearly tribute of ships 
were not required, its value in money was exacted. 
This must have been the principal source of revenue 
when the plunder from piratical expeditions failed. 

Having a peaceful reign, Olaf could turn his atten- 
tion to improving the condition of his people. He 
founded several guilds of arts and trades at Bergen, 
and made it a centre of traffic with other countries. 
He is said to have introduced chimneys and glass 
windows; even royal palaces before his time having 
been destitute of these luxuries. Most of the houses 
in Norway were rude cabins of timber, with a hole in 
the roof to let the light in and the smoke out. Up to 
the middle of the last century, we are told by Bishop 
Pontoppidan, it was unusual to see a dwelling house, 
even among rich farmers, with glass windows. The 
square hole in the middle of the roof, called a "ljur," 
was stopped, in bad weather, with a "siaa," a frame 
covered with a transparent membrane, like bladder. 
Specimens of these may still be seen in saeter huts, 
in wild parts of the country. 

Norway was not far behind the rest of the world 
in point of civilization. England could not show much 

one has been discovered at the tumulus called King's Hill, at Sandefjord, 
seventy-four feet long by sixteen broad, with twenty ribs, and drawing five 
feet of water. This is supposed to date from about 800 A. D., and it is 
thought that when the tumulus was raised, the sea, now a mile distant, 
washed its base. Fragments of sails and tackle were found, the greater 
part of the mast, about twenty-two feet in height, bones of a man, horse, 
and dog, drinking cups and other utensils, but not the costly ornaments 
which were expected, from the tradition that a mighty king had been buried 
here. Perhaps the tumulus had already been rifled of its treasures. 
II* 



250 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



more, in the way of comfortable dwellings. Before the 
Conquest there were very few buildings, even churches 
or convents, of stone. Winchester, then the capital, 
consisted of sixteen streets of low huts, closely packed 
together. London could not have been superior, and 
was perhaps not equal, to Winchester. The wooden 
houses were one-story high, plastered within and with- 
out, and with thatched roofs. Even the castles of the 
Norman barons were wooden towers upon stone founda- 
tions, or mounds of earth defended by wooden pali- 
sades. The mud floors were strewn with rushes; the 
windows closed with boards. The oldest of the stone 
towers, or " keeps," now remaining in England, that 
of Mailing in Kent, built by Bishop Gundulph in 1070, 
shows the rude masonry called rubble work (stones of 
different size and shape imbedded in mortar), which is 
found in some of the oldest stone buildings in Sweden: 
church towers, which are supposed to be the remains 
of heathen temples. Bishop Gundulph was the archi- 
tect of the " White Tower" in London, and began to 
build the Cathedral of Rochester. The bishops were 
the architects in those days, and the monks were the 
gardeners, introducing the culture of vegetables. Even 
now, if a garden be particularly fertile, in Norway, you 
•are apt to find that it is on the site of an old monastery. 

Another advance in civilization was the attention 
to costume. Snorre Sturleson says, that in the time 
of Olaf Kyrre, the Norwegians " took up with many 
foreign customs and dresses, such as fine laced hose, 
high-heeled shoes, stitched with silk, jackets buttoned 
on the side, with sleeves ten feet long, very narrow, 
and plaited up to the shoulders." 

Arnold of Liibec, in his chronicle, written about 



OLD NORSE KINGS IN BERGEN. 



2 5 I 



1200, speaks of the Danes as being no longer clothed 
like mariners, but wearing the dress and arms of other 
nations, using rich stuffs of various colors, and even 
purple and fine linen. Only at the court, however, 
could such luxury be found in Norway. 

In their warlike habits, constantly making or re- 
sisting invasions, the kings had spent little time in 
their palaces, such as they were, but had lived much 
on islands, or on board their ships, sleeping under 
tents on the shore. The wooden houses were never 
secure from attack; and in many cases the rich Bond- 
ers and chieftains were surprised by night and burned 
in their houses. 

Olaf kept a large retinue to guard his palace; one 
hundred herdmen or courtiers (of the udal class), sixty 
giesters or men-at-arms (of the unfrie class, employed 
as common soldiers, seamen, or followers), and sixty 
house carls to do the labor (probably slaves or thralls 
— those taken in battle and their descendants, not em- 
ployed under arms in any way). 

He introduced new court ceremonies. For each 
guest at his table there was a torchbearer to hold a 
candle. The butler stood in front of the table to fill 
the cups of deer's horn. These were ornamented with 
golden bands, at regular distances; and in the daytime 
it was customary to drink by measure, from one band 
to another; but at the evening feasts men drank with- 
out measure as much as they pleased, and found them- 
selves under the table in consequence, one may suppose. 

King Olaf spent much of his time on his large farms, 
and was called ''Olaf the Bonder," as well as " The 
Peaceable," ''because he sat in peace, and gave no 
cause for others to plunder his dominions." 



252 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



One of his good deeds was the enactment of a law 
for the emancipation of slaves taken in war. Every 
district was obliged to set free one bondman annually. 
This was very gradual emancipation, but it may have 
been the best he could secure. It was a beginning, at 
least; and under Magnus Hakon's son, the lawgiver, 
two hundred years later, slavery was finally abolished, 
as it was, about the same time, in Sweden, by the good 
regent, Torkel Knutson. 

Of slavery in the time of Olaf we have a very good 
idea from Snorre's account of the household of Erling, 
Olafs brother-in-law. Erling was a powerful Bonder, 
had always ninety free-born men in his house, kept a 
ship of thirty-two banks of oars, and when he went on 
a viking cruise, or attended the king on a levy, had at 
least two hundred men with him. He had always on 
his farm thirty slaves, besides other work-people; and 
he gave them a certain task as a day's work, and leave 
to work for themselves after that was accomplished. 
He gave them land to sow, and the benefit of their 
crops; and he put upon them a certain value, so that 
they could redeem themselves from slavery, which 
some could do the first year, some the second, and 
"all who had any luck could do it the third year." 
He settled these freed slaves on the newly-cleared 
land, or found them employment in the useful trades, 
or in the herring-fishery, for which he furnished them 
with nets and salt. 

Slaves thus freed would belong to the unfrie class, 
neither Bonders nor thralls, but liable to serve in war, 
to which class belonged the trades-people, fishermen, 
laborers, cottagers paying rent in work on a farm, 
etc., from whom the same class of people in Norway 



OLD NORSE KINGS IN BERGEN. 



253 



are probably descended. Now, as then, they are con- 
sidered inferior to Bonders (udal proprietors), and there 
is a strong caste feeling, as we have already observed. 

Erling's treatment of his slaves may have been ex- 
ceptionally kind and judicious. The dark side of slavery 
comes out in an act of the queen-mother, Thora (dur- 
ing the next reign), who ordered the tongue of a slave 
boy to be cut out, because he had stolen a piece of 
meat from her beef or pork barrel. He averred that 
the cook had given it to him, because it was unfit for 
the queen's table; but the cruel woman insisted upon 
the barbarous punishment. It is gratifying to know 
that St. Olaf established his own sanctity and the 
boy's innocence by restoring him to speech. 

Magnus Barefoot (or Barelegs), the son and succes- 
sor of Olaf, inherited the fierce nature of his mother 
Thora, as well as his father's bravery, and was one of 
the most Avarlike kings of Norway. He owed his sur- 
name to his habit of wearing the Scottish kilt. He re- 
conquered the Shetland Islands, the Orkneys, Hebrides 
and the Isle of Man, and afterwards invaded Ireland; 
where, after reducing part of the country to subjection, 
he was killed in a skirmish on the coast of Ulster. His 
valor endeared him to his army; but he was not such a 
favorite with the people, who were heavily taxed to de- 
fray the cost of his expeditions. 

He died at the age of thirty years, leaving three sons 
to divide the kingdom, Eistein fifteen, Sigurd fourteen, 
and Olaf, four years old. About this time a company 
of Northmen returned from the East, with stories of 
Jerusalem; and it was thought very desirable that one 
of the young kings should go there in command of an 
expedition. The choice fell upon Sigurd (whose share 



254 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



had been the southern part of Norway, Eistein taking 
the north and little Olaf the middle); so Eistein re- 
mained at home and governed the whole country, while 
his brother set out on his pilgrimage to Jerusalem. 
Eistein had good advisers, and was, like his grandfather 
Olaf, a wise and peaceable man. He built a large hall 
in Bergen as a lodging inn; a monastery at Nord-naes: 
a church and harbor at Agda-naes; St. Michael's Church 
in Bergen, "a very splendid stone temple"; and in the 
king's house, or citadel, the Church of the Apostles, 
and " a great hall, the most magnificent wooden struc- 
ture ever built in Norway." 

But for Mr. Bennett's confident assertion that the 
great hall in Bergen was built by Hakon Hakonson, 
who reigned 1247-1261, we should think it was Eistein's 
" magnificent structure " of the previous century. Per- 
haps it was built upon the same foundations. Of Eis- 
tein's establishment of mountain stations on the Dovre- 
fjeld and Fillefjeld I have already spoken. He ''built 
in Nidaros, in the King's Street, the Church of St. Nich- 
olas, ornamented with carved work, and all in wood, 
and a church in Vaage, in Halagoland." By kind per- 
suasion he won back the province of Jemteland, which 
had paid scot to Hakon Adelstein, and afterwards, un- 
til St. Olaf and Swedish Olaf had quarrelled over it, and 
it had been settled that " all east of the Keel belonged 
to Sweden." 

Eistein is described as " the handsomest man that 
could be seen; he had blue, open eyes, and hair yellow 
and curling," of middle stature, with much knowledge 
of mankind, quick in counsel, prudent in words, very 
eloquent and generous. He improved in many ways 
the laws and privileges of the people, kept strictly to 



OLD NORSE KINGS IN BERGEN 



255 



the laws, and showed in everything great prudence 
and understanding. 

Meanwhile, Sigurd Jorsalafarer had sailed, in 1107, 
with a fleet of sixty ships and several thousand men; 
wintered in England, where he was entertained by 
Henry L; then ravaged the coast of Gallicia, encoun- 
tered Saracen pirates and captured eight galleys; at- 
tacked the fortress of Cintra, at the mouth of the Ta- 
gus, and killed the garrison on their refusing to become 
Christians. At Lisbon and Alcazar he plundered the 
Moors of immense booty, and defeated a second fleet 
of pirates in the Straits of Gibraltar. In Sicily he was 
entertained by Count Roger, the Norman sovereign; 
and on reaching Palestine, he was welcomed by King 
Baldwin, brother and successor to Godfrey of Bouillon, 
who accompanied him to the Jordan, and gave him a 
piece of the true cross, to be deposited in the shrine of 
St. Olaf. He assisted Baldwin in the siege of Sidon, 
and received half the booty. In 1 1 1 1, he returned home 
by way of Constantinople, where he was honored with 
a grand reception by the emperor, Alexius Comnenus. 
The famous golden gate was opened for his entry; there 
were games in the Hippodrome, and he received valua- 
ble gifts, which he distributed among his soldiers. 

Snorre Sturleson, in recounting Sigurd's adventures, 
describes the Hippodrome as containing "monuments 
in bronze and other metals of the Aesor, the Volsungor 
and Giukungor, made with such exquisite skill that they 
appear to be alive, and joining in the games, or as if 
riding in the air"; confusing the antique statues of 
Greek deities with the Scandinavian deities and heroes, 
or thinking them the same under different names, which 
perhaps they were. 



2 5 6 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



On leaving Constantinople, Sigurd presented the 
emperor with his ships, and the figurehead of his own. 
a gilt dragon twelve feet long, was set up in or upon 
the Church of St. Sophia, in memory of his visit. Alex- 
ius furnished him with horses and guides, to conduct 
him through the empire, with letters to governors of 
provinces requiring free quarters for himself and his 
men, and provisions for their journey. He traversed 
Bulgaria, Hungary, Pannonia, Bavaria and Suabia; was 
entertained by the Emperor Lothair and King Nicho- 
las of Denmark, who furnished him with ships to return 
to Norway. He seems to have been rather set up by 
his adventures and to have thought lightly in compar- 
ison of the quiet virtues of his brother; and his quick 
and passionate spirit sometimes hurried him into vio- 
lent measures and threatened to make trouble between 
them; but, owing to Eistein's wise management, they 
never came to open hostility. 

In his graphic way Snorre relates a significant dream 
of King Sigurd's which he told to his brother for ad- 
vice and comfort thereupon. He dreamed that the 
three brothers were sitting on a bench outside of 
Christ Church in Throndhjem, when St. Olaf came out 
with smiling, friendly mien, and taking young Olaf by 
the hand, saying, " Come with me, my friend," he led 
him into the church. He came again with graver 
countenance for Eistein, and led him away; but re- 
turned not for Sigurd. " Then I was seized with great 
sorrow, and great dread and anxiety fell upon me, so 
that I was altogether without strength; and then I 
awoke." 

King Eistein interprets the dream to signify that 
Olaf shall die first, himself next, and Sigurd shall live 



OLD NORSE KINGS IN BERGEN. 



257 



longer, but some trouble may come to him; and so it 
happened. Olaf died of sickness in the thirteenth year 
of his reign, aged seventeen; Eistein, in the twentieth 
year of his reign, aged thirty-five. Sigurd had fits of 
insanity in the latter years of his life; and another 
trouble arose, which was signified by another dream; 
of a tree, coming from over seas, breaking in pieces, 
and driving all about the land; which he thought be- 
tokened the coming of some man who would fix his 
seat there, and whose posterity should spread itself 
over the country. 

So significant are some of these dreams in the old 
sagas, that irreverent criticism suggests that they were 
invented after their fulfilment. 

The last years of Sigurd's reign were disturbed by 
the advent of the Irish adventurer, Harald Gille, or 
Gilchrist, who gave himself out for a son of Magnus 
Barefoot, and claimed a share of the kingdom. To 
prove his assertion he submitted to the ordeal of walk- 
ing over nine red-hot plough-shares; and as the burns 
were healed in three days, his claims were established. 
King Sigurd stipulated that Harald should not lay claim 
to the throne during his life, or that of his son Magnus, 
to which Harald agreed; and he was allowed to remain 
at court, as an acknowledged heir to the crown. 

Sigurd had married Malmfrid, daughter of Russian 
Harald Wladimirsson, whose mother was Gyda, daugh- 
ter of English Harold. 

Nestor of Kieff, the father of Russian history, also 
records this first English and Russian alliance. 

Malmfrid had no sons; but her daughter, Christina, 
married Erling Shakke, and their son Magnus came to 
the throne some thirty years later. 



258 



A SCANDINAVIAN- SUMMER. 



Sigurd's son and successor, Magnus, was the son of 
a Norsk maiden, Borghilda, daughter of a Bonder in 
Dal. It is curious how many of these kings were the 
offspring of left-handed marriages: Hakon Adelstein, 
Magnus Olafson, Olaf Kyrre, his son Magnus, and the 
usurpers Harald and Sigurd, who claimed descent from 
him, with Harald's grandson, Sverre. Illegitimacy was 
no barrier. 

In the last years of his life, Sigurd fell in love with 
a beautiful girl, Cecilia, and wished to marry her; but 
the bishop of Bergen refused to perform the ceremony, 
as Malmfrid was still living; then he went down to 
Stavanger, and found the bishop there more com- 
pliant, on condition of his paying a great sum to the 
Church. 

Sigurd had built a castle in Konghella, "of turf and 
stones, with a ditch round it, and a king's house and 
church inside," where he deposited the piece of the 
true cross which he had brought from Palestine, and 
the tables of copper, silver gilt and adorned with jew- 
els, before the altar, "brought from the Greek coun- 
try," and an altar book, written with gold letters, pre- 
sented to him by the Greek patriarch. It was " a 
Cross church, built of wood and carefully put togeth- 
er," doubtless not unlike the quaint little churches 
still remaining in Borgund and Hitterdal. Three 
years after the consecration of this church, Sigurd fell 
sick in Viken, and died, and was buried in Opslo, in 
St. Halvard's Church; "laid in the stone wall without 
the choir on the south side." 

He had reigned twenty-seven years. These three 
brothers were the last Norse kings to die in their beds 
for many a long year. 



OLD NORSE KINGS IN BERGEN. 259 



It was thought by many that Sigurd should have 
placed his precious relic in the shrine of St. Olaf, at 
Throndhjem, where he had vowed to deposit it; though 
that opinion may not have been expressed until after 
the church and town of Konghella had been plundered 
and burned by Wendish pirates. 

It was natural that Harald Gille and Magnus should 
be bitter enemies. From the first, Magnus had hated 
the pretender, with a presentiment of all he was to suf- 
fer at his hands. 

Mangus was " the handsomest man in Norway, and 
distinguished in bodily exercises; but of a passionate 
temper and cruel, a great drinker, greedy of money, 
hard and obstinate." Harald Gille was gay and gener- 
ous, willingly listened to good advice, and made many 
friends. After Sigurd's death he called his friends to- 
gether, and at a Hauga Thing got himself chosen king 
of half the country, on the ground that his promise to 
wait for the death of Magnus had been forced from 
him. 

Both raised armies, and Magnus refused to treat 
with the pretender, but waited in Bergen until Harald 
should come to attack him. 

He defended the town by laying chains and wooden 
booms across the passage from the King's Bridge to 
the Nordnaes, and to the Monk's Bridge; erected a 
slinging machine out on the Holm, and filled a field 
with iron traps or caltrops, to lame horses or men who 
should cross it. Harald landed at Florevaag on Christ- 
mas Eve, but would not fight on holy time, and waited 
till the third day of the feast. There was news, then, 
that he was attacking at one end of the town; Magnus 
went thither with his troops, some nine hundred men; 



260 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



then he is told the enemy is at another entrance, 
and he turns back in haste and disorder, his men for- 
saking him, his very defences a trap and a snare, as he 
wanders back and forth in Bergen streets, to be taken 
prisoner by Harald, and handed over to his slaves to 
be blinded and mutilated. 

Magnus retires or is sent to the monastery, on the 
Munkholm, at Throndhjem. Harald reigns in Bergen; 
but the very next year he is attacked and slain in his 
bed, at night, by another pretended son of Magnus Bare- 
foot: Sigurd, called Slembediaken, or the bad deacon, 
because, though brought up as a priest, he was more of 
a viking by nature. Sigurd's claims to the throne were 
not sustained by the people, though he had undergone 
the ordeal like Harald; and the latter had tried to pro- 
cure his death; but he had slipped away and lay con- 
cealed in Bergen, until he found opportunity to execute 
his vengeance. He got himself proclaimed king, in 
Sogne; but Harald's young sons were also proclaimed 
by the people of southern Norway; and Sigurd went 
north to the Lapps, who made him canoes of bark, 
sewed with reindeer sinews, with willow twigs for knees; 
each boat holding twelve men. He went next to 
Throndhjem, and taking poor, blind Magnus out of 
the monastery, to inspire interest in his cause, he met 
the forces of Harald's sons in a sea fight. Magnus was 
killed, and Sigurd taken prisoner, as he was escaping, 
swimming under his shield, and put to death by the 
most cruel tortures, which he bore with the fortitude 
of a wild Indian and the patience of a Christian martyr. 

Snorre's graphic story of these battles came either 
from first or second hand; from Hakon Mage's account, 
and Erik Oddson's, "who wrote concerning Harald 



OLD NORSE KINGS IN BERGEN 



261 



Gille and his sons, and Magnus and Sigurd," and what 
he himself heard from the lendermen who were in the 
war. 

One of Harald's sons had the old viking blood in his 
veins. " While Stephen was king," between 1136 and 
1 1 54, he sailed to Caithness, plundered Aberdeen, and 
went south to Hartlepool, Whitby and Scarborough 
and other places, fighting and pillaging, returning in 
the autumn to Norway. " People spoke in various 
ways about this expedition," says Snorre; evidently 
not altogether in approval. It was the last Norse in- 
cursion upon English territory. 

Nicholas Breakspeare came to Norway in the time 
of Harald's sons, and consecrated an archbishop at 
Throndhjem. He introduced a law to prevent the 
Bonders from coming armed to the Things, and by his 
wise measures and gentle rule made himself beloved 
by the people. 

"There never came a foreigner to Norway whom 
all men respected so highly, or who could govern the 
people so well as he did." After he became Pope 
Adrian IV., "according to the report of men who 
went to Rome in his days, he had never any business 
however important to transact with other people, but 
he would break it off to speak with the Northmen who 
desired to see him." 

Harald's sons were all killed in battle; Sigurd at Ber- 
gen, Eistein on an island where he had taken refuge, 
and Inge in a battle on the ice near Opslo, fighting 
with another pretender, Hakon, son of Sigurd the 
deacon. The crown went back to the family of Sigurd, 
the Crusader, in the person of his grandson, Magnus 
Erlingson, who was crowned by the new archbishop 



262 A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 

• 

at Bergen about 1 160. Snorre speaks of the decoration 
of the large hall for the festivities, with tapestry and 
costly cloth hangings. The primate improved the op- 
portunity to secure power for the Church, making a 
bargain with Erling (who was the real sovereign during 
his son's reign) that upon the death of the king the 
crown was to be offered to St. Olaf, and a council, 
composed of bishops, abbots and twelve Bonders from 
each diocese, should appoint the successor. 

The Church did not profit much by this sharp prac- 
tice, for the very next king was Sverre, the excom- 
municated priest (son of Sigurd Haraldsson), whose 
mother at Sigurd's death had carried him off to the 
Faroe Islands. 

In the confused and lawless state of society which 
prevailed at this time, a band of some two thousand 
outlaws and marauders had been collected under the 
lead of Eistein, a reputed son of Eistein Haraldsson, 
whom they proclaimed king. After his death Sverre 
became their leader, and these were the " Birkibeiners," 
by whose assistance he was placed on the throne. If 
the existence of such a band of men requires any expla- 
nation, it may be found in the fact that the last piratical 
invasion had taken place a few years previously, and 
these were the vikings, driven from the seas to the for- 
ests; their former occupation cut off by the progress 
of Christian influences, the power of law, and the na- 
val, military and commercial arrangements of other 
countries. 

It was a transition period, when, in most of the 
countries of Europe, there was an over-population in 
proportion to the means of earning a peaceful liveli- 
hood; and, as has been observed, the Crusades were 



OLD NORSE KINGS IN BERGEN. 



263 



fed not more from fanaticism than by this want of 
employment at home. 

Norway had sent, as we have seen, only accidental 
contingents to the Crusades. There had never been 
a standing army. Troops were levied, upon occasion, 
and ships required from the rich Bonders; and in many 
wealthy families the custom had grown up of keeping 
a number of men-at-arms, who were a step above the 
class of tradesmen, artisans, laborers and fishermen, 
and would not readily find peaceful employment when 
their warlike occupation was gone. Of such restless 
and turbulent spirits the Birkibeiners and Baglers were 
composed. 

Sverre reigned twenty-five years — from 1 177 to 
1202, — and seems to have done his best for the coun- 
try, in the way of improving the laws and customs. I 
do not find that he built any churches; but he erected 
castles — one in Bergen, in the citadel, on the spot now 
occupied by a garden, and another in Throndjem. 

A curious scene was witnessed in Bergen, after the 
death of Sverre and his son; when, the birth of his 
grandson Hakon being disputed, the queen mother 
Inga submitted to the ordeal of wearing a glove of 
red-hot iron, to test the legality of his title. A great 
Thing had been convened at Bergen, and the ordeal 
was proposed by Archbishop Erik, King Sverre's old 
enemy. A Bonder in the council was greatly outraged 
by the suggestion, declaring that such an insult was 
never heard of in Norway, and that it would be fitter 
for Hakon to assert his claims against his foes by cold 
iron, as his grandfather Sverre had done. 

But the council agreed with the archbishop, and Inga 
was shut up in a church alone for fasting and prayer, 



264 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



guarded by twelve armed men, sworn to prevent fraud. 
When the burning glove was taken off, in the presence 
of the king, bishops and jarls, her fair hand was not 
only unhurt, but more beautiful than ever. The arch- 
bishop declared all persons excommunicate, who should 
dare to whisper a doubt as to the fairness and honesty 
of the whole proceeding. 

Hakon's power needed "cold iron" also to establish 
it fully After several years of struggle with his re- 
fractory subjects, he was crowned at Throndhjem on 
St. Olaf's Day, A. D. 1240, by the Cardinal Bishop of 
Sabina, legate of Pope Innocent IV. Before his de- 
parture, the cardinal abolished the ordeal by hot iron, 
declaring it unworthy of Christians to invoke the 
testimony of God in mere worldly matters. In the 
second year of Hakon's reign, occurred the death of 
the famous Snorre Sturleson, whose " Chronicle of the 
Kings of Norway" has been our guide thus far.* 

* Snorre Sturleson, born 1178, at Hvamm, in Iceland, was descended 
from the royal stock of Odin, and held by hereditary right the dignity of 
Godar, inherent in families descended from the twelve Godars who came 
with Odin from Asgard. The office combined the functions of judge and 
priest, and the former continued long after the introduction of Christianity. 
A man of great political influence, whose history has been written by his 
enemies, — who accuse him of appropriating the property of his step-children, 
of appearing at the Thing with a large body of armed retainers, and obtain- 
ing by force such decisions as he wished, and of conspiring to reduce Iceland 
to a province of Norway — it is difficult to judge him impartially, and his 
cruel death excites the most lively sympathy. He visited Norway in 1221 
as the guest of Jarl Hakon Galin (one of the husbands of Christina, mother 
of Magnus Erlingson), and later, in 1237, he attached himself to the party 
of Skule, who had claims to the throne, and assumed the title of king, in 
Throndhjem, but was slain during the next year. King Hakon IV. de- 
clared Snorre a traitor, and issued letters to bring him prisoner to Norway, 
or put him to death. On this authority his three sons-in-law came by night to 
his residence at Reikholt, and murdered him. As a chronicler, Snorre is unri- 
valled, not only by Scandinavian sagamen, but by any historian of his time. 



OLD NORSE KINGS IN BERGEN. 



265 



In 1263 Hakon undertook his fatal expedition 
against the Scots, then ruled by Alexander III. 
Alexander II. in 1244 had tried to buy back the 
Hebrides; but Hakon replied that he was not so poor 
as to sell his birthright. In 1263, the jarls, who gov- 
erned these islands, sent letters to Hakon, complain- 
ing that they were harassed by British chiefs, who 
burned their houses and churches, and slaughtered 
women and children, carrying helpless infants about 
on the points of their spears. The king equipped an 
expedition to chastise the Scots. Bergen harbor was 
full of his ships; and the royal ship, constructed there, 
was entirely of oak, with the dragon head overlaid 
with burnished gold. 

He landed on the western coast of Scotland, and 
several of the island kings submitted. He claimed the 
cession of Bute and Arran and other islands, and when 
they refused, took forcible possession, reducing three 
castles, and laying waste their villages. He tried to 
land at the mouth of the Clyde; but when part of 
his troops had disembarked, a sudden tempest arose, 
and drove his ships out to sea. The troops on shore 
attacked a Scotch force near Largs, and were defeated 
with great loss. Hakon, unable to land the remainder, 
retired through the strait, between Skye and the main- 
land — still called Kyle Hakon — to the Orkney Islands, 
where he wintered, proposing to renew his attack in 
the spring. He was seized with a fever; and, after 
lingering some time at Kirkwall, causing the Bible 
and Xorse sagas to be read to him daily, he died, 
about St. Lucia's Day, and his body was removed to 
Bergen. 

Magnus, his son and successor, gave up the Scotch 
11 



266 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



Islands, except the Orkney and Sheltland Islands, for 
which he paid the sum of 4,000 marks; and as a means 
of insuring peace between the two kingdoms, his son 
Erik was betrothed to Margaret, the daughter of Alex- 
ander III., then about four years old. 

The barbarous right of wreck was abolished by 
treaty. Magnus is called " Lagabaeter," or law-mend- 
er, from his having collected the laws of the kingdom 
into a regular code, called the Hirdskra. His son Erik 
was proclaimed his successor, and primogeniture was 
now established, the prelates renouncing their claim 
to control the choice of a monarch. The early kings 
had been chosen among the nearest relatives, the 
eldest son being generally elected; but often all the 
sons had claimed shares in the kingdom, and great 
trouble had arisen from the custom. 

Erik married Margaret in 1281, and they had one 
daughter, called by the Scots the "Maiden of Nor- 
way," who, on the death of her grandfather without 
heirs male, became heiress to the throne of Scotland. 
Erik asserted her claim, and entered into negotiations 
with Edward I. of England, who sought to effect a 
union of the British kingdoms by a marriage between 
his son and the Norwegian princess. It was arranged 
that she should be sent to England to be educated 
under the care of the wise and lovely Queen Eleanora 
of Castile; and she embarked for the purpose in October, 
1290; but, after a very stormy voyage, the ship took 
refuge at the Orkney Islands, where the poor little 
princess died of exhaustion. She was not more than 
eight years old. Her own mother must have been 
dead; for I find that the king of Norway had married 
Isabel, daughter of Robert Bruce, and declined taking 



OLD NORSE KINGS IN BERGEN. 267 



part in the long struggle between England and Scot- 
land which followed the accession of John Baliol to 
the Scottish throne. If poor little Margaret had lived 
to marry Edward II., how much happier might have 
been his fate than with the wicked Isabel of France. 

Is this the "king's daughter of Noroway," mentioned 
in the "grand old ballad of Sir Patrick Spens " ? — 

" ' To Noroway, to Noroway, 
To Noroway o'er the faem; 
The king's daughter of Noroway, 
'Tis thou maun bring her hame ! ' 

" The first word that Sir Patrick read, 
Sae loud, loud laughed he; 
The neist word that Sir Patrick read, 
The tear blindit his e'e. 

" ' O wha is this has done this deed, 
And tauld the king o' me, 
To send us out at this time of the year, 
To sail upon the sea ? 

" ' Be it wind, be it weet, be it hail, be it sleet, 
Our ship must sail the faem ; 
The king's daughter of Noroway, 
'Tis we must fetch her hame.' 

" They hoysed their sails on Monenday morn, 
Wi' a' the speed they may; 
They hae landed in Noroway 
Upon a Woden's day." 

After a week in Norway the Norsk lords begin to 
flout the Scotch sailors with spending their "king's 
goud" and "a' our queenis fee," and indignant Sir 
Patrick gives the word for their return: 



268 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



" ' Make ready, make ready, my merry men a', 
Our good ship sails the mom.' 
< Now, ever alake ! my master dear, 
I fear a deadly storm ! 

'"I saw the new moon, late yestreen, 
With the old moon in her arm; 
And if we gang to sea, master, 
I fear we'll come to harm.' 

"They hadna sailed a league, a league, 
A league, but barely three, 
When the lift grew dark and the wind blew loud, 
And gurly grew the sea. 

"The ankers brak, and the topmasts lap, 
It was sic a deadly storm; 
And the waves broke over the broken ship, 
Till a' her sides were torn. 

" O forty miles off Aberdeen, 
'Tis fifty fathoms deep, 
And there lies gude Sir Patrick Spens 
With the Scots lords at his feet." 



Erik left no son, and was followed by his brother, 
Hakon V. Ingeborg, daughter of Hakon V., married 
Erik, brother of Birger, king of Sweden (grandsons of 
the great Birger Jarl), and her son Magnus (after the 
murder of his father and the abdication of his uncle) be- 
came king both of Norway and Sweden in 1319; but in 
1343 resigned the sceptre of Norway to his son Hakon. 
Hakon married Margaret, daughter of Waldemar IV. 
of Denmark; and their son Olaf, for a little while, 
united the crowns of Denmark and Norway. His 
mother, Margaret, after the death of her husband 
in 1380, was appointed regent, during Olaf's minor- 



OLD NORSE KINGS IN BERGEN. 



269 



ity, and after his death, at the age of seventeen, 
she was invested with the sovereignty of Denmark 
and Norway. 

In right of her husband she claimed the crown of 
Sweden; and after several years of war with Albert 
of Mecklenburg (elected king of Sweden after the 
death of Magnus), she became, by the treaty of Cai- 
rn ar, queen regent of the three kingdoms, during the 
minority of Erik of Pomerania, who had been elected 
as her successor. A portrait of this remarkable woman, 
known in Denmark as the "Semiramis of the North," 
is engraved as ;the frontispiece of Shading's " History 
of Scandinavia." An anxious and troubled expression 
wrinkles her forehead, beneath the jewelled coronet; 
and you are reminded that "Uneasy lies the head that 
wears a crown." And the great Margaret had far from 
an easy life of it, although she retained the govern- 
ment until her death, and Denmark and Norway re- 
mained united under one king until the union of Nor- 
way with Sweden in 18 14. But the German princes 
who succeeded had not her energy or wisdom, and the 
kingdoms were involved in almost constant wars and 
insurrections. 

Under Christian II., Gustavus Vasa established the 
independence of Sweden in 1523, and his descend- 
ants occupied the throne until the accession of Gen- 
eral Bernadotte, in 1818, under the title of Charles 
John XIV. 

I think Margaret was the last sovereign who could 
ever have resided in Bergen. Osloe became the cap- 
ital of Norway after its union with Denmark, and 
Christopher III. and Christian II. were crowned there, 
but the kings had their residence at Copenhagen. An- 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



other Margaret, daughter of Christian I., was married 
to James III. of Scotland; and as her father was unable 
to pay her dowry of sixty thousand florins, the Orkney 
and Shetland Islands were mortgaged for the sum. 
Denmark never being able to redeem them, and Scot- 
land unwilling to give them up, they were lost to Nor- 
way forever. 



XV. 



FROM THE HARDANGER TO THE SOGNE FJORD. 

T3ERGEN lies between the two grandest fjords in 
Norway — the Sogne, about seven Norsk miles to 
the north, and the Hardanger, the same distance to the 
south. Both reach the sea through a labyrinth of count- 
less islands, and both penetrate from eight to ten Norsk 
miles into the interior, dividing into smaller fjords, 
which run up into the land in different directions. 
Thoroughly to explore the wild and beautiful scenery 
of these fjords would require weeks; but one may see 
the grandest features of both in a few days, by taking 
the route which we adopted, at Mr. Bennett's recom- 
mendation. Small steamers leave Bergen several times 
a week for these fjords, and by going to the head of 
one, and posting across country to the branches of the 
other, some of the finest scenery in Norway, or in the 
world, may be enjoyed, with very little difficulty or 
fatigue. 

On Thursday at 9 A. M., we were on board the 
Hardangeren ; our trille safely on deck, our luggage 
piled with a lot of similar bags and bundles near the 
gangway, our berths engaged in the tiny cabin, and 
ourselves established on the deck of the little steamer, 
ready to ascend the Hardanger Fjord. We had a sail 
of sixteen hours before us; but though we should ar- 



272 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



rive at our destination at I A. M. the steamer would re- 
main there until 4 A. M. So we could betake ourselves 
to our berths, when we became very weary, and oc- 
cupy them until that early hour, if we chose. 

We passed in and out among islands of varying size, 
and through passages of varying width, till we emerged 
into the main body of the Hardanger Fjord. These 
fjords may be compared to trees, with roots extending 
into the sea, and head and branches into the land. 
Sometimes we stopped at stations and villages, and 
saw the peasants in their bright, quaint costumes. One 
sees greater variety in costume in the Bergen-stift, or 
diocese, the southwestern division of the body ecclesias- 
tic of Norway, than in any other part of the country. 
Some of the women and young girls wear bright scar- 
let bodices over plaited white cambric waists, with full 
sleeves, the bodice sometimes open in front showing 
the white to the belt, sometimes closed by a richly em- 
broidered stomacher. Over a skirt of dark, servicea- 
ble, woollen material is worn a large apron; upon fes- 
tive occasions this is white, adorned with embroidery 
or " drawn work," like old English or modern Kensing- 
ton methods of ornamenting linen. Upon the head is 
worn a scarlet or black cap, and sometimes a curiously 
twisted white handkerchief, sticking out in great horns 
at the side. The koner (married women) have differ- 
ent kinds of headgear from the piger; but these pict- 
uresque arrangements are an immense improvement 
upon the dull, too often dirty, kerchiefs, one sees so 
constantly while passing through the interior of Nor- 
way. The large apron is invariably worn, even by 
brides, but for common use is made of cotton print or 
gingham. 



THE HARDANGER TO THE SOGNE FJORD. 273 



In winter a tight waist, with long sleeves, of dark 
stuff like the skirt, is substituted for, or worn over, the 
white one, sometimes finished by a narrow border of 
bright trimming, and showing the white habit-shirt at 
throat, and neat white cuffs at the wrists. 

Brides are adorned with a gaudy crown of tinsel and 
bright colors worn over a close white cap; and long 
sash-ribbons, or bands of scarlet cloth, gay with col- 
ored embroidery, hang over the white apron. 

Old men wear knee-breeches and white stockings, 
coats turned back with red, with bright buttons; some- 
times red woollen jackets and coats of thick white cloth 
and dark ribbed stockings. One, photographed in the 
latter costume, carries an alpenstock in his hand, and 
looks all ready to be one's guide to the Folgefond, or 
some other glacier. 

Our seats were near the stern, and some sudden mo- 
tion of the rudder startled Will from his perch on the 
railing and off went his straw hat, a recent purchase in 
Bergen. He had a silk cap in his bag, intended for use 
in night travel, and after ruefully watching the straw 
hat, dancing and swimming on the waves, he foraged 
in the heap of luggage for his private property, and pro- 
duced the cap — a poor substitute. No chance of a hat 
this side of Christiania ! There was one consolation — 
his sun umbrella remained. 

He planned a change of route — going on with the 
boat to Odde, at the head of the Sor Fjord (one of the 
branches of the Hardanger) to visit the Buerbrae glacier 
and the Folge Fond. An English lady, with two young 
gentlemen, and two brothers, Americans, were bent on 
the same excursion, and they tried to persuade us to 
accompany them. But we knew our weakness, and 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



that the eight or ten hours of walking necessary for 
exploring these wonders were quite impossible for us. 
Beside our own party, these were the only English or 
American passengers; but there were the German baron 
and his wife and her mother, with the stout courier 
(whom we had seen at Jerkin, and afterwards, for a 
day, on the Hakon Adelstein) and some very pleasant 
Norwegians; among others, the lady with the little 
girl, whose English-Norsk had surprised us on the 
Lofoten, and who now proved more accessible. Their 
home was at one of the stations on the fjord, and 
we watched their landing, and the greetings of their 
friends. A tall, stout gentleman, with whom my 
brother made acquaintance, proved to be a superin- 
tendent of police, on a tour of inspection through the 
country, accompanied by his wife, who spoke a little 
English, and was very agreeable. 

The day was a long one, and dinner and supper 
were events of interest to all. These were partaken 
of by the passengers in detachments, the cabin was so 
exceedingly small; but the supply of food was suffi- 
cient and of good quality. One regrets the necessity 
of eating on these little steamers, they are so pervaded 
by the odors of cooking. 

Through the evening we sat on deck, talking, after 
it grew too dark to read, and involuntarily eavesdrop- 
ping. The German baron was quiet and courteous; I 
heard him speak nothing but German with some gen- 
tleman whose acquaintance he had made, to whom he 
spoke of his residence in Germany, and the reasons for 
this summer campaign with his Frau and the Schwei- 
ger-mutter. The Baronin spoke English, and was full 
of curiosity, not only about our country, but our per- 



THE HARDANGER TO THE SOGNE FJORD. 275 



sonal relations. When I took a seat near her, she en- 
deavored to satisfy herself as to the latter. Which of 
the gentlemen was my husband ? What ! neither ? 
What relation, then ? And which of the ladies were 
their wives ? What relation were we to Miss M. ? 
And so on, till I grew tired of being catechised, and 
sought another seat. " Do these people not consider 
such questions impertinent?" I asked myself, ''or do 
they think it unnecessary to use politeness in talking 
with Americans ? " 

The Schweiger-mutter was engaged in conversation 
with a sturdy, honest-looking man, who appeared to 
be a farmer. First she tried Norwegian; but her stock 
of phrases was limited, his knowledge of German was 
still less; finally, he asked if she understood English. 
Oh, very well; she had visited in .England. Where 
had he learned it ? In America. He had lived in Wis- 
consin; was at home on a visit; going back again; 
wouldn't live in Norway for anything; wondered any- 
body could stay; the country seemed so barren and 
forlorn to him, after the fertile prairies of the West. 
[The number of emigrants is some forty thousand an- 
nually.] This man's accent was that of a Wisconsin 
farmer; anywhere out of Norway we should have taken 
him for an American from the Northwest. 

A glance into the ladies' cabin, early in the even- 
ing, had decided us to resign our berths to some Nor- 
wegian ladies, who gladly accepted them, and to wait 
until landing at Eide at I A. M. for comfortable beds at 
the station, where we might make as late a morning 
as we liked. Will had bidden us good-by, and re- 
treated to his corner of the black hole, below. The 
German lady warned us that unless we had telegraphed 



276 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



for rooms, our chances were small; she had telegraphed, 
and walked on in triumph; while we were detained at 
the pier, making some arrangements for landing the 
trille and gig. When we reached the station-house 
which was nearest, we found it full; and people were 
sitting out on the porch, apparently resigned to being 
up all night, or going on, as soon as horses could 
be ready. An inquiry at the other houses in the 
neighborhood proved that the German lady was right. 
All we could do was to spread our wraps on the floor 
of the dining-room, the kind landlady adding pillows 
and comforters, and we were weary enough to fall 
asleep. 

I woke, chilled and aching, and hearing the noise 
of passers and the departure of the steamer, I rose and 
found it four o'clock. The door of the opposite room 
was open, and nobody about; so I investigated, and 
discovered a large, pleasant guest-room, out of which 
opened a small bedroom, the occupant of which had 
just gone to the steamer. I spread up the bed and 
found it decidedly softer than the floor; but my re- 
searches had waked me so that I could not at once go 
to sleep. A little shelf of books hung within reach, 
and finding Bjornson's stories in Norsk, and Miss 
Bremer's ''Neighbors" in Swedish, I puzzled over 
them till I lost myself in slumber. 

At seven I was awake again; and, eager to go on, I 
roused the others and ordered breakfast. This was 
refreshing, consisting of good coffee, eggs and bread 
and butter, and the usual abundance of milk and cream. 
Then ensued a tedious delay while the trille was being 
put together, from the shafts and the harness being 
found wanting. Whether they had been carried off on 



THE HARD ANGER TO THE SOGNE FJORD. 277 



the steamer, or were locked up in the shed which served 
as an office on the pier, was the question. 

Somebody was hunted up who had the key, and the 
latter alternative proved to be the case. Then, when 
the carriages were ready, where were horses ? All 
those belonging to the station had been sent on, with 
earlier risers than we. There were horses, if we liked 
to take them, belonging to men who had brought them 
on the steamer, and who had waited for just such a 
chance to make them pay their passage. Anything 
was better than lingering at Eide; so we started with 
these horses. Two were attached to the trille and one 
to the gig, and there was yet another running alongside. 
Of course we three ladies, deserted by Brother Will, 
had to take one of these rough jockeys to drive; and 
the other perched himself behind our carriage, while 
they kept up noisy talk and rude laughter all through 
this stage of our journey. 

They drove like Jehu, leaving the gig far behind; 
and whenever we came to an especially narrow and 
dangerous part of the road the loose horse trotted up, 
making the others skittish, and putting us in torture. 
We were driving around the beautiful lake-like basin 
which forms the head of the fjord, shut in by lofty 
mountains, but we could not enjoy the scenery. How 
thankful we were to reach that station, although it was 
a wretched place, and we had to wait some time for 
horses. The German people were here, and their cour- 
ier confirmed our opinion of our rough drivers. We 
met also English tourists, on the way to Bergen; and 
after their horses had rested, we took them back to the 
next station, Vossevangen. I think horses are usually 
engaged from Eide through to Vossevangen, and al- 



278 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



lowed to rest half an hour at this station, which looks 
as if no one could ever stop over night, or willingly eat 
in the house. There were children playing about; and 
in one of the rude cabins we saw a baby in a cradle, 
suspended from the wall by an elastic sapling; the 
cradle itself was not unlike a baking trough. 

For the next stage we had a good-natured old fel- 
low as driver, and were able to enjoy the beautiful 
scenery through which we passed. The road climbs 
a mountain by zigzags, and while the trille was slowly 
dragged up, we took short cuts from one spiral to an- 
other, filling our hands with flowers, and looking back 
on the lovely view. A mountain torrent rushed down, 
with numerous waterfalls, to join the waters of the 
fjord, which lay beneath us in smiling beauty. 

On the other side, we descended through groves of 
pine and birch; and, finally, the lake and green mead- 
ows near Vossevangen opened out before us. We 
drove to Fleischer's Hotel, just beyond the village, 
highly recommended by Mr. Bennett. There were two 
houses, and good accommodations for a large number 
of travellers; but a party of English people had en- 
gaged the best rooms, and we were given quarters in 
the attic, rooms comfortably finished off and decently 
furnished, and were soon prepared to do justice to an 
excellent dinner. The English travellers proved to 
be the duke of St. Albans and his party, consisting of 
the duchess, an English gentleman and lady, and the 
maid and man who had come in his steam yacht, the 
" Ceres," up the Hardanger Fjord, and were posting 
across the country to the Sogne Fjord, where the 
yacht was to meet them. They were served in their 
rooms, while the maid and man sat down with the 



THE HARDANGER TO THE SOGNE FJORD. 279 



rest of us to table d'hote. We had trout from the lake, 
fresh meat and vegetables, and a particularly nice 
gooseberry tart. From our attic windows we had a 
pretty view of the lake and village, a handful of houses 
w T ith a quaint old church, which we ought to have vis- 
ited; but we felt the need of making up arrears of sleep, 
and our beds were irresistible. 

Mr. Brace, who spent a Sunday here twenty years 
ago and attended service in the old church, describes 
it as built of stone, with unpainted woodwork, and the 
interior broken up by galleries, columns and recesses. 
It was built about A. D. 1200. "The prominent ob- 
ject on entering is an ugly wooden statue of Christ 
crucified; over the entrance to the chancel are two lit- 
tle wooden boys, holding a real hammer and whip, to 
represent the Jews and their instruments of torture. 
The chancel is filled with rude, old paintings, and the 
flat ceiling adorned with singular cherubic heads." 
The people came in carts and carioles, on horseback 
and on foot, or across the lake in boats, to the com- 
munion, before the ordinary service, which began at 
11.30. The young girls sat on little raised forms in 
the aisles, the old women on high-backed wooden 
seats. Each as she entered her seat kneeled to pray, 
and then shook hands with all near her. 

He describes the costume of the clergyman, the 
long robe and stiff ruff, as we saw it at Throndhjem 
and Tromsoe, and gives the Lutheran form of absolu- 
tion, repeated by the priest, with his hands on the 
head of each communicant, as they kneeled before the 
altar: "Let thy sins be forgiven thee, in the name of 
God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy 
Spirit." 



280 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



Vossevangen is a good centre for headquarters, 
from which to visit the Voring-foss, the glaciers in the 
neighborhood, and other points of interest; and Fleis- 
cher's is a good place to replenish the provision basket.* 

We started about 10 A. M. on Saturday, with a skyd 
to drive the trille, and good horses, which we ought 
to have engaged for a double stage; for, on reaching 
the next station, Tvinde, we found no horses, and, 
when we proposed to the skyd to take us on, he at 
first refused, and then asked such a price that we 
would have nothing to say to him. So we waited for 
three hours, through the heat of the day, at this mis- 
erable station, where the cabins were too dirty to enter. 
We walked up, through grain fields and pastures, to 
the Tvinde Foss, a pretty waterfall, where we might 
have passed the time pleasantly; but we feared losing 
the chance of horses if we were not on hand to claim 
the first which returned, and we looked for them every 
moment. Fortunately we had brought lunch from 
Fleischer's, or hunger would have been added to our 
other discomforts. While we waited, two German 
ladies drove up in a stol kjerre, a sort of cart with 
seat wide enough for two, in which one horse is driven, 
and which is considered by many more comfortable 
than a cariole, while for two persons it is less expen- 
sive. They are to be had at most of the stations, and 
go only as far as the horses, one's luggage being 
shifted at each change,. These two ladies were quite 

* To show the increase of travel in this part of Norway, Mr. Bennett 
quotes from the daybook the number of travellers passing this station. In 
1848 there were seven, seventeen in 1853, fifty-one in 1858, ninety-seven 
in 1868, and two hundred and eighty-three* in 1870. He recommends 
spending Sunday here, in order to see the costume. 



rrtE HARDAXGER TO THE SOGXE FJORD. 28 1 



by themselves, but seemed very comfortable and inde- 
pendent. 

At last the horses returned, rested, and we were 
off. We took the skydsgut as driver, to avoid respon- 
sibility in case of accident, and because it needs strong 
wrists to drive a pair of these hard-bitted Norwegian 
horses. The gig was made comfortable by some care- 
ful adjustment of the luggage. 

At Vinje the buildings were the most wretchedly 
uncomfortable we had yet seen — perched on the slope 
of a nearly barren hill. We called for refreshments, 
but as they could give us nothing but a little boiled 
milk, in a pitcher far from clean, we turned entertain- 
ers ourselves, beginning by giving some of our Albert 
biscuit to the children, when grown men and women 
came up and put out their hands for a share. 

After an hour's waiting two horses came in, and 
they were attached to the trille as soon as they had 
rested the regulation half-hour, the occupants of the 
gig waiting for the next chance, and hoping soon to 
overtake us. One of the boys was arrayed in his Sun- 
day clothes, for the honor of being our charioteer, and 
a knowledgeable little skyd he proved. After dashing 
down a steep hill, a part of the harness gave way, and 
we fortunately passed a house where he could beg or 
borrow a rope to tie it up with, which he did very se- 
curely. (On reflection, I believe we paid for that rope.) 

The scenery, after passing Vinje, became very fine. 
We drove around mountain lakes, past a pretty church 
and parsonage, and at the side of mountains where 
people were making ha)- on a surface so nearly per- 
pendicular that they seemed to need some such appa- 
ratus as flies have in order to keep their footing. It 



282 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



did not surprise us to learn that a young girl, hay- 
making on one of the precipitous cliffs which overhang 
the Aardal Fjord, fell off (in 1858), and was dashed to 
pieces. Some of the "gaards," in these inaccessible 
regions, are reached only by ladders, and others by 
roads formed of tree-trunks attached to the rocks. In 
Aurland there is a gaard so close to the precipice 
that -the people hobble the legs of the little children 
to prevent them from going too near the edge. 

When people die in such places, one would suppose 
that they must be buried on the spot, in such rude 
coffins as might be procurable; but it is the custom to 
pack the corpses in baskets, and carry them down on 
men's shoulders to the church, or some farmhouse, 
where a coffin is in readiness. A story is told of a 
dead man being lashed to a pony, and made to ride 
to his last home. These are the places which Bishop 
Pontoppidan tells of, where a priest or doctor, unused to 
climbing, risked his life in going on an errand of mercy. 

At Stalheim we said good-by to our little skyd, 
receiving the usual hand shake and " Mange dak," and 
then waited another weary hour for horses. What 
made it very aggravating was the fact that the horses 
were there all the time, and the people kept us wait- 
ing for other arrivals, hoping we should bid higher 
than the lawful rates.* 

* It is hardly necessary after relating our experience to endorse Mr. 
Bennett's statement that "the people on this road are grasping, lazy, and 
uncivil. Complaints are continually made of extortionate charges for post- 
ing between Gudvangen and Vossevangen." Travellers are partly to blame 
for yielding to these demands, but the temptation to get on at any price (and 
the prices are not very high, after all) is very great, especially if one has not 
a well -filled lunch basket. I am glad to say that we found these stations 
exceptions to the general rule. 



THE HARDANGER TO THE SOGNE FJORD. 283 



We called for the daybook; the station-house was 
at the top of a hill, and we thought they could do so 
much for ladies as to bring it down. It was produced, 
and I wrote in it, and then insisted upon "Heste, 
strax." 

(I afterwards discovered that "strax" has some- 
thing the meaning of "by and by"; " oieblikkelig " 
being the word to express " immediately.") 

The English party came up; and I think we were a 
little consoled at finding that dukes and duchesses, 
posting through Norway, had fared no better than 
common people, having been compelled to wait for 
horses, and to take up finally with two carts for the 
ladies; while the gentlemen took turns in footing it 
and occupying the spare seat in one of the carts. One 
of the gentlemen came up to us, who, as first arrivals, 
had the first claim to horses, to inquire if one of their 
ladies could drive with us. We had no objections, if 
he would talk to the men and hasten up the horses. He 
had been but two days in the country, he said, but he 
had a book, and he produced Bennett's "Phrase Book" 
(which we had been studying about six weeks), and 
began firing phrases at the refractory people. "Hvor 
ere hestene ? Spaend hestene for ! " (" Where are the 
horses ? Put the horses to ! ") At last, John and Jane 
drove up in a gig, and, after a general consultation, 
horses were brought out, enough for all; as their horse, 
after a rest, was allowed to go on for the next stage. 
So we got off, with one of these disobliging men as 
our driver, and thankful were we, before we reached 
our journey's end, that we had a man of any nation to 
drive us, and not an English lady, however expert she 
might have been. For almost immediately after leav- 



284 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



ing Stalheim, we began to descend a break-neck hill, 
over a fine road, to be sure, a model of engineering, 
which descends the mountain in "a series of masterly 
zigzags," as Murray observes, forming the famous Stal- 
heims Kleft, or pass. From the summit we could look 
down upon these zigzags, winding like a white ribbon 
far below us (as many as twelve turns are in sight at 
once), while at both sides the air was white with the 
spray of waterfalls. The beauty and the danger, com- 
bined, were too much for us; we made the descent on 
foot, stopping at one turn of the spiral to gaze at the 
Stalheims Foss, tossing its white mane in the air, and, 
at the next, at the Sevle Foss, tumbling a thousand feet 
of sheer descent from the rocks above. We must have 
gone down over a thousand feet into this grand valley, 
through which reels and dances the Gudvangen River, 
as if intoxicated by the foaming spray of the Stalheims 
Foss, which has leaped from the mountain to join its 
course. Alongside this rushing river runs a splendid 
road, and on each side the narrow valley rise moun- 
tains, gradually increasing in height as we go on, all 
the while rapidly descending to the sea. Looking 
back we see the curves of the mountain pass and the 
white spray of the cataracts on each side, closing up 
the valley behind us. Looking forward, we dimly see 
something majestic, above the nearer summits. As we 
go on it looms above us grander and grander. By and 
by we pass beneath its shadows, and look up to the 
magnificent dome of rock, seamed and scarred, as if 
rent by earthquakes, softened by no fringe of vegeta- 
tion, not even a crown of eternal snow upon its brow; 
but, a monarch in its lonely grandeur, the Jordalsnut 
rises six thousand five hundred feet above the sea. 



THE HARDANGER TO THE SOGNE FJORD. 285 



This is the Naerodal, running down to the Naero 
Fjord, one of the arms of the great Sogne Fjord; and 
we emerge from the valley at the village of Gudvangen, 
to see another marvel, as we drive up to the station; 
the Keel Foss, over two thousand feet in height, blown 
out like a silvery veil, and ending in clouds of spray. 
This magnificent valley has been full of a sombre 
grandeur, increased by the twilight which has deep- 
ened until, when we reach Gudvangen, at half-past 
eleven, it is almost dark; as nearly as we ever saw it 
in Norway. We find the station-house, " Hansen's," 
full; but sitting on the porch is the gigantic super- 
intendent of police, who tells us he has engaged 
rooms for us at Schultz's, across the street. We had 
had fresh horses at Stalheim and a furious driver; so 
we were in earlier, by half an hour, than our friends, 
with their tired horse. There were two rooms adjoin- 
ing, for the four ladies, and a place was found for John 
in another house, belonging to Herr Schultz. 

The steamer was to start at four o'clock next morn- 
ing. Late as it was, we were too hungry to sleep with- 
out supper; and, fearing we should be hurried in the 
morning, we lay down partially dressed; so our night's 
rest was as unrefreshing as it was short. 

We were waked at 3 A. M., feeling as if we had just 
gone to sleep; and we had plenty of time to dress, 
take our coffee and walk down to the water side, where 
men were busy getting our trille and other vehicles 
on board a barge, to be towed out to the steamer. 
We were rowed out in a little boat, passing close to 
the " Ceres," which had come in since our arrival. 
The duke's party, expecting to find the yacht, in the 
harbor, had not telegraphed for rooms; and for sev- 



286 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



eral hours had found no better accommodations than 
we did at Eide, camping down on the dining-room 
floor at Hansen's. 

The Sogne Fjord is a Briareus among the fjords, 
having not less than eight good-sized arms, not count- 
ing the fingers, or sub-divisions. We steamed down 
the Naero Fjord, that cloudy Sunday morning, through 
cliffs rising thousands of feet, sheer precipices, above 
our heads; past beautiful inlets with green slopes, and 
rocky islands. It has been compared to the Lake of 
Uri, a part of Lake Lucerne, in Switzerland; but the 
fjord is wilder and sterner. It grows wider after join- 
ing the Aurlands Fjord, and the two flow on in unison 
for about as many miles farther as their separate length, 
before joining the main body of the Sogne Fjord. We 
go on to the northeast for awhile, then turn to the 
southwest, striking into the Laerdal Fjord, and, about 
ii A. M., reaching Laerdalsoren, our point of departure 
for the ascent of the Fille Fjeld. 

All this time we were passing through the grandest 
scenery, "unique dans la monde" (as the guides say of 
La Sainte Chapelle in Paris); we were sitting bolt up- 
right on narrow wooden benches, which ought to have 
helped us; we were endeavoring to converse with a 
very genial English gentlemen, and yet we were be- 
set, tormented, beguiled, absolutely overpowered with 
sleep, to our great shame and loss. We kept rousing 
ourselves to admiration, then sinking back in weary 
weakness, with our heads on any friendly shoulder. 
The little steamer was too crowded to give us room 
for any but an upright position. Of course it was 
necessary to catch this steamer; but how much more 
we should have enjoyed if we could have spent Sunday 



^HE HARDANGER TO THE SOGNE FJORD. 287 



at Vossevangen, gone through to Gudvangen on Mon- 
day, and taken a boat on Tuesday or Wednesday, when 
rested from the journey. Rowboats may be engaged, 
and, with a good wind, sails are spread, and the dis- 
tance accomplished in about the same time as by 
steamer, seven hours. Otherwise, it takes ten or 
twelve hours. But we were hampered with the trille. 

We reached Laerdalsoren about 9 A. M. and found 
rooms, which we had telegraphed for, at Bertelsen's 
Hotel, commended by Bennett as "excellent; wheat 
bread and good champagne"; but we found it crowded, 
and rather dirty. Perhaps they did their best for us; 
but we three ladies had rooms opening out of the 
kitchen, with windows into the barnyard. When these 
w r ere shut, the rooms were hot and stuffy; when open, 
damp and odorous. They were utterly destitute of 
furniture, except beds and tables; and constant excur- 
sions to the kitchen were necessary to procure washing 
utensils and chairs, one thing at a time being granted 
us with apparent reluctance. We got breakfast, ex- 
cellent salmon steaks and bread and butter; and then 
made up for lost sleep by retiring to our beds, although 
obliged to open our parasols, to keep out the sunlight. 
One of the women, entering abruptly for some pur- 
pose, stood open-mouthed in astonishment. " Er de 
s yg?" (Are you ill?) " Nei, ikke syg — sovelig" ; I 
replied. (No, not ill — sleepy.) And she left us to 
repose. 

At 4 P. M. we had a nice dinner of salmon, stewed 
chicken and curry, gooseberry jelly and cream, to 
which, refreshed by sleep and a bath, we were able 
to do justice, and we began to think better of Bertel- 
sen's. We were not called to dinner, however; the 



288 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



dining-room was full without us; and it was only by 
insisting that a table should be spread in the opposite 
room that we got our share of the good things going. 
This room was a sort of parlor, out of which opened 
the bedroom occupied by John and Jane. The Eng- 
lish people in the house conducted service here in the 
morning, which we were invited to join; but we were 
too sleepy. I suppose we seemed to them heathen, ar- 
riving on Sunday morning, and spending the blessed 
day in sleep. But why do the fjord steamers run on 
Sundays ? 

Laerdalsoren is not an attractive place for a long 
stay. Shut in by high mountains, as it is, one can 
only make excursions in boats. We had partly prom- 
ised to wait here, or somewhere on the route, until 
Will came up with us. But by Monday morning we 
were ready to go forward, leaving his bag and a letter, 
and bespeaking a comfortable room for him. Getting 
advice from an Englishman, who had just crossed the 
Fille Fjeld, we imparted his opinion, that the route by 
the Spirillen was ''infinitely prettier" than that by the 
Randsfjord, which we had intended to follow. If we 
found a pleasant station along the road, we might 
wait for him to overtake us, perhaps at Tune, which 
seemed to promise best in Bennett's guide-book. 

We regretted afterwards not waiting, for the sake 
of some of the excursions to be made in the neighbor- 
hood, which are not so entirely beyond feminine ca- 
pacity as we supposed. 

At Bertelsen's one can get boats for the water, and 
saddle horses for the land excursions; the latter as 
sure-footed as the Swiss mules. Good climbers may 
ascend Skagstoldtind, 7,877 Norsk feet above the sea; 



THE HARD ANGER TO THE SOGNE FJORD. 289 



considered the highest mountain in Norway until some- 
body discovered that Galdhopiggen, one of the Jotun 
mountains, some miles inland to the northwest, was 
four hundred and twenty-three feet higher, i. e., 8,300. 
Sneehatten, the highest point in the Dovrefjeld, is 
7,300. (A Norsk foot is about half an inch longer than 
an English foot; so one must add a 24th to these meas- 
ures to make them accurate, or nearly so.) 

Then, about five Norsk miles to the northwest from 
Laerdalsoren are the Justedal mountains and glaciers, 
the Nygard and the Lodal, with the great mountain, 
the Lodalskaabe, 6,798 feet high, commanding a pros- 
pect unrivalled for wildness and grandeur. 

The next branch of the Sogne Fjord above Laerdal 
is the Aardal's Fjord, running to the northeast about 
two Norsk miles. You take a boat to Aardal, where 
you sleep, and by starting early next morning you can 
visit the Morke Fos, and return before night. You 
pass up a grand defile, until after four hours' walking 
you reach the farm of Vetti, where you may sleep in- 
stead of at Aardal, if you desire to make the journey 
easier. The last two hours' walking are very trying to 
the feet, being over large stones through the gorge of 
Vetti's Gielen, full of magnificent waterfalls, and the 
ruins of many an avalanche of stones. Sixteen miles 
above Aardal you reach the Morke Fos, which plunges 
a thousand feet into a chasm of vertical sides — a mag- 
nificent amphitheatre of black, excavated rock. This 
is thought to be finer than the Riukan or the Voring 
Fos. 

The scene of Frithiof's Saga, in the outer Sogne 
Fjord, may be visited by boat from Laerdalsoren. A 
row of eight hours brings one to Vangnaes (the " Fram- 
13 



290 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



naes " of the Saga), the birthplace and residence of 
Frithiof. Balholm, or Balestrand, is the site of the 
Temple of Balder, burnt by Frithiof, and not far dis- 
tant is a sepulchral mound, called the grave of King 
Beles, the father of the fair Ingeborg. 

Near the church of Lekanger, farther up the fjord, 
is a Bauta stone — a rude, slender obelisk, of a single 
stone, between twenty and thirty feet high. 

The Aurlands Fjord which unites with the Naero 
Fjord (southwest of Laerdal), divides into two branches, 
the one to the southeast leading to the valley of Flaam, 
and its waterfall. Numerous Bauta stones commem- 
orate battles fought here in the days of the old kings. 
Going farther up through Kaardal to the farm of 
Kleven, you enter the region of the Sverrestein, 
through which King Sverre effected his bold retreat 
towards Hallingdal and Valders. Not far from here 
must have been the "remarkable piece of antiquity" 
to which Bishop Pontoppidan alludes: "A way sus- 
pended on iron bolts, which King Sverre caused to be 
fastened into the rocks, in the year 1200, to make a 
passage for his army." 



XVI. 



OVER THE FILLE FJELD. 
E got off early on Monday, and followed the 



^ * valley, along the stream, the Laerdal's Elv. 
(Such a pretty name for a river, taking us back to the 
time when every stream had its guardian spirit !) This 
rises in a lake on the summit of the fjeld, running west- 
ward; while another river rising in the same lake, the 
Beina Elv, runs eastward until it reaches the Chris- 
tiania Fjord. 

The road follows the stream, crossing it frequently 
on picturesque bridges, made of pine-trees, after the 
fashion of those in the Romsdal. 

The first stage is a mile (Norsk) to Blaaflaten, where 
we change horses. As we go on, the scenery grows 
wilder; and we come to a narrow gorge where the road 
is blasted out of the perpendicular cliffs, and in one 
place goes through a cleft in the rocks barely wide 
enough for a carriage to pass. This road is said to oc- 
cupy the former bed of the torrent, which now roars a 
hundred feet below, and at one narrow place it is car- 
ried across the stream, the views from the bridge, up 
and down the gorge, being very fine. How did these 
frolicsome elves carve out for themselves such magnif- 
icent pathways to the sea ? or shall we believe the 
peasants, who say that the giants (Jotuns) forced the 
rocks apart with their great shoulders ? 




292 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



This excellent road over the steep hill, Seltenaasen, 
is another triumph of the engineering skill of Captain 
Finne, whose "masterly zigzags" we admired at Stal- 
heimskleft. There was formerly a "frightfully hilly" 
road on the other side of the river, the remains of which 
may still be seen. 

From Blaaflaten to Husum was a nearly double 
stage, a mile and three-eighths; but there was no stop- 
ping place in this wild pass. Slowly we wound up the 
summit, looking back at the wild scenery; madly we 
dashed along the curves which led us down into the 
valley, with little thought of anything but our own 
safety. The road may be, "perhaps, as good as any 
in Europe," as says Mr. Bennett; but a substantial par- 
apet would vastly enhance its excellence, in our esti- 
mation. It is a mercy these little Norwegian horses 
are so sure-footed; but they have a dreadful fondness 
for the outer verge. Oh for a Norsk phrase like the 
one we used to laugh at in Baedeker, expressed in 
French, German and Italian: "Do not drive so near 
that precipice ! " 

We had commissioned an acquaintance, who passed 
us in his cariole, to order our dinner at Husum, and 
Blossom had added " Pancakes ! " Perhaps we were 
served a little sooner in consequence; but alas ! the 
pancakes were tough, being made of rye flour. Mr. 
R.'s cariole stood in the yard, occupied by a tiny 
maiden, whom he introduced as his skydspige. It was 
a joke in this case, for the midget could hardly stand 
alone; but we afterwards saw little girls of eight or ten 
years driving home carioles and carts. 

Between Husum and Haeg we stopped to visit the 
curious old church of Borgund, described by nearly 



OVER THE FILLE FJELD. 



293 



every one who has visited Norway, and perhaps the 
greatest curiosity in the way of buildings, as it is one of 
the two oldest in the country. 

The other, the church of Hitterdal, in the Thele- 
mark, of the same period and style, is larger and of 
more modern appearance, as plain timbers have re- 
placed the old Runic carving, and the inside has been 
carefully restored. 

We pass into the churchyard through a covered 
gateway in a high stone wall, evidently built as a pro- 
tection about the church, which is kept as a curiosity, 
and opened only for careful inspection. A large edi- 
fice, near by, has been built for the use of the congre- 
gation, perhaps one thousand in number, who assemble 
from all this region. Near this building stands the bell- 
tower, old, but of much more recent date than the old 
church. This is of the strangest architecture, all ga- 
bles and pinnacles, the lower finished by crosses, the 
upper by curious projections like those on a Chinese 
pagoda. It is covered with pine shingles, rounded and 
overlapping like the scales of a fish, and these have 
been protected from the weather by a coating of tar. 
The lowest roofs project, forming a corridor, about 
three feet in width, which is railed in and runs entirely 
round the church. Sheltered by this, the old black- 
carving has been preserved, and some Runic inscrip- 
tions are still legible, but their significance hardly re- 
wards the student: 

" Thora wrote these Runes at the Olaf's Mass." 

"The Church of Kirkwold." 

It is a baby-house of a church, the extreme length 
but fifty-four feet and the width thirty-nine. Its height 
must be about sixty feet to the point of the central 



294 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



pinnacle. With round arches and semi-circular apse, 
the interior seems like a copy in wood of the German- 
Romanesque churches of the eleventh and twelfth cen- 
turies. Bennett calls it " Byzantine-Gothic "; but from 
its quaint exterior one might rather call it Buddhist- 
Scandinavian. Ferguson speaks of the analogies in 
Eastern architecture — especially of the mosques in 
Cashmere and Thibet, made of the Deodar pine wood 
— to these quaint Norwegian churches; but he arrives 
only at the vague inference that "men of cognate race, 
striving to attain a similar object, with similar mate- 
rials, arrive at similar results." Were the early churches, 
in any respects, copied from the old heathen temples ? 
Or was the Byzantine style introduced by way of 
Russia ? 

Nielsen says the old man who brings the key from 
the Kirkwold farmhouse will tell " Mahrchen " about 
the church; but we understood too little Norsk to 
question him or understand him. When was it built, 
and by whom ? Its construction points to the twelfth 
century, and there seems little probability in the tra- 
dition which ascribes it to St. Olaf. He had his hands 
too full, with wars and rebellions and forcible conver- 
sions of his pagan subjects, to find time for such peace- 
I jI work as building churches. That was more in the 
line of Olaf Kyrre, or Kong Sverre. But, once you 
get a saint in a country, and especially a royal saint, 
all good things are laid to his charge. 

From Husum to Haeg is seven-eighths of a mile, 
Norsk, but we pay for one and a half miles, since it 
takes an hour and a half to accomplish the distance. 
Most of the way is up hill, and the ascent would be 
tedious if the scenery were not so fine and the air so 



OVER THE FILLE FJELD. 



295 



exhilarating. Some of the peasants' cottages are pict- 
uresque, built of great pine logs, on a stone founda- 
tion, well banked with earth, and the roofs, of solid 
planks overlaid with birch bark, covered with turf and 
luxuriant vegetation, young birches and alders some- 
times growing on them, and goats browsing, as we 
saw them in the Romsdal. 

We still follow the river, which tumbles over the 
rocks in many beautiful cascades, and while waiting 
for our supper in Haeg we followed up the stream 
through a field near the house, where it wound in and 
out among the rocks in a succession of rapids, ending 
in a miniature Horseshoe Fall, which we christened 
Niagara. 

We found good quarters, though very plain, at Haeg 
— little bedrooms with two single beds in each, open- 
ing out of the guest-room; and our supper was spread 
on a long wooden table in one corner, where the bench 
running round the room furnished seats on two sides. 
We had seen a similar arrangement in the kitchen at 
Kongsvold, on the Dovrefjeld; it seems a relic of the 
old customs. From the evident poverty of the estab- 
lishment, we were led to use our own tea (the only 
time we tried it, as it proved no better than the aver- 
age), not without fear that the pride of our hostess 
might be wounded; but I dare say English travellers 
had accustomed her to such proceedings. She gave 
us very good fried salmon, eggs, and bread and butter, 
with coffee and milk; and after the tough pancakes at 
Husum we were very hungry. 

The question of waiting here for Will was raised; 
but we decided that the place was too lonely, and not 
quite clean enough. We should be wretchedly home- 



296 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



sick, and must go on to Tune. The horses were ready 
and we started on, about half-past eight, for Maristuen, 
one Norsk mile farther. 

The road keeps close to the Laerdal's Elv, passing 
through wilder and more magnificent scenery than be- 
fore. We are two hundred feet above the river, wind- 
ing along its precipitous banks, and crossing it on rude 
bridges; above us rise great masses of rock, threaten- 
ing to topple down upon our heads; great boulders 
and smaller fragments of rock are strewn around us; 
one would think the Jotuns had fought a battle here. 
The scenery on this route has been compared to the 
Romsdal, and it is not unlike the wildest parts of that 
valley, but seems grander to us. 

The summit of the Fille Fjeld is nearly one thou- 
sand feet higher than the watershed at Lesje, and the 
summit of the pass near Maristuen is three thousand 
nine hundred feet above sea level. It is as destitute 
of vegetation, as bleak and gloomy, as the summit of 
Mount Washington in New Hampshire, or the Gorner- 
Grat in Switzerland. The descent of the Romsdal is 
two thousand and fifty feet in fifty-six miles; that from 
the Fille Fjeld to the Sogne Fjord three thousand nine 
hundred in about thirty miles. 

I think the wildness and grandeur of this route 
would be even more impressive if taken in the other 
direction; beginning with the wilder scenery on the 
Christiania side and going down into the Laerdal, as 
one goes down the Romsdal from Lesje. We propose 
to try it, next time we visit Norway. 

Half way between Haeg and Maristuen, at the 
bridge of Borlaug, the south road to Christiania turns 
off, following the Hemsedal River from its rise in the 



OVER THE FILLE FJELD. 



297 



fjeld till it runs into the Kroderen Fjord in the Ring- 
eriget. It passes through the region known as Hal- 
lingdal, where the scenery is fine, and from Haugsund 
one may visit Kongsberg and the silver mines, and go 
into Thelemark. 

Bishop Pontoppidan crossed the Fille Fjeld in 1749, 
on the 28th of May. He left barley growing at Laer- 
dal, and " the heat was so sultry at noon, that I was 
obliged to shelter myself at Borgen Chapel. But after 
a few hours progress, I found myself rising, as it were, 
into the upper regions of the air, towards the pure and 
subtle ether, and as much in the depth of winter as if 
it had been New Year's Day; surrounded with snow 
and ice, which were the more painful to the eyes, as 
having so lately enjoyed the pleasing verdure of fields 
and woods. The sun shone out very bright, but though 
it was within three weeks of midsummer, all the waters, 
and particularly the fresh-water lake there, called Ut- 
nen, were frozen. I was very desirous of returning, 
being diffident of the assurances of my guides that the 
ice would bear, for, as the snow-water lay upon it, I 
apprehended it might give way. However, I got over, 
in my sledge chaise, which, as is here customary, was 
drawn by peasants, and not by horses." He seems to 
have had no means of determining altitude, but esti- 
mates the height of the Fille Fjeld, from the extended 
view and difference in the weather, as half a Norsk 
mile — nearly twenty thousand feet ! 

We found it very cold at Maristuen; but heavy com- 
forters kept us warm through the night, and we had a 
fire in the guest-room. We were off next morning by 
eight o'clock. The road crosses the plateau, keeping- 
near the river; but the former road crossed a mountain, 

13* 



298 



A SCANDINAVIAN- SUMMER. 



nearly a thousand feet higher, 4,000 feet above sea 
level. We pass some rude saeter huts, but do not stop 
to examine the interiors. Murray says it is necessary 
to keep up fires at night, and to drive in the cows, 
horses, and goats, to preserve them from the attacks 
of marauding wolves. 

Not far from Maristuen, we notice the pillar which 
marks the boundary between the Bergen and Chris- 
tiania districts. 

It is a long stage to Nystuen, and the scenery is 
inexpressibly wild and dreary, far more so than that on 
the plateau of the Dovrefjeld, where we found flowers 
almost up to the highest point. Even when these 
failed, the mosses colored the rocks, and the white 
reindeer moss grew over the fjelds. Here we begin 
to understand Mr. Kirke's description of a Norwe- 
gian fjeld, which we had hitherto deemed an exag- 
geration: "Boulders of rock, tilted up on one side, 
covering the surface of the ground," though this de- 
scribed better the part of the fjeld more removed 
from human dwellings where the reindeer wander, 
cropping the white moss, which is the only vegeta- 
tion at this height. 

Not far from Nystuen we passed the saeter of 
Kirkestol, where was formerly a little church, dedi- 
cated to St. Thomas, where service was held once 
a year by the pastor of Vang on the 2d of July. At 
that time many people assembled from the neighbor- 
ing valleys, and a sort of fair was held. But these 
yearly gatherings, at which much " aqua vit " must 
have been consumed, came to be occasions of quar- 
rels and bloodshed; so that finally, in 1808, they were 
forbidden, and the church was broken up or removed. 



OVER THE FILLE FJELD. 



2 99 



Pontoppidan mentions this "votive church of St. 
Thomas." 

Maristuen and Nystuen are both fjeld-stue (like 
Folkstuen and Jerkin on the Dovrefjeld), and were 
sustained by the Government. The father of the pres- 
ent station-master, Knut Nystuen, who resided here 
for many years, received from the king a silver medal 
in recognition of his services in rescuing many lost 
travellers, who would have perished without his help. 

The buildings at the station are clean and comfort- 
able; but the whole region is so dreary that one feels 
like making the shortest possible stay. Bennett holds 
out alluring prospects of reindeer venison, and trout 
weighing two or three pounds caught in the river or 
the lake (from which the Laerdal's Elv and the Beina 
Elv take their rise), but we found cold comfort in the 
way of lunch — nothing but rye bread and butter and 
milk. While we were eating this, and waiting for 
horses, a gentleman came in, who had just made the 
ascent of the neighboring mountain (recommended 
by Bennett), which commands a view of the Jotun 
mountains and glaciers. He had had an hour's climb 
to reach this outlook, and it had taken nearly as 
long to return; and he was tired, cold, and very 
much out of humor. Call that a fine view ? It was 
not his idea of a fine view; all barren rocks and ice 
and snow; nothing more dreary and desolate had he 
ever seen. We wondered what else he could expect 
in this region, at an elevation of some 4,000 feet above 
the sea, and ventured to inquire what was "his idea of 
a fine view." 

"Well, the scenery in the south of France." He 
was from Bordeaux, agent for a wine merchant, and 



3°° 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



improving his time in Norway by a little run through 
the country. 

This Frenchman seemed to us almost as funny as 
the one who entered a complaint, in the daybook 
at Garlid, of the dust and heat of his journey. If 
this is the "Sjula Hill" of Bennett's Guide, and the 
" Stugenos " of Nielsen's, it is nearly 5,000 feet in height 
and commands one of the widest views in Norway.* 

From Nystuen to Skogstad, one mile Norsk, the 
road continues on the plateau, but gradually descends. 
We stopped only long enough to change horses, and 

* The following graphic sketch of fjeld scenery is by a modern Nor- 
wegian writer, Th. Kjerulf: 

' ' When the traveller ascends from the cultivated valleys, he passes, step 
by step, through a variety of regions. First comes the region of pines, 
which in these sheltered spots, under the shadow of the overhanging moun- 
tains, rise thick and luxuriant, serving as a shield against the wind and sun. 
Although the paths used by the woodcutters intersect them in every direc- 
tion, one can seldom see far ahead ; the road is easily lost, and it is no easy 
task to find the bridge, or ford, over the mountain stream, which is often 
swollen by a hundred tiny tributaries into a rushing, dangerous torrent. 
Where the fir-trees cease^ the silver birches, with their graceful, drooping 
branches, and pleasant, sighing murmur, take their place. Now the view 
becomes clearer, and the path easier to follow, and as the birches gradually 
thin they are interspersed with an occasional pale willow, and many a clump 
of fjeld flowers cropping up in tufts around. The prospect here is wide and 
unobstructed, and with loosened rein, and the horse following behind, one 
wanders at will; for on the mountain-side the way lies as the crow flies, 
without any of the turns that it takes in the valley below. The summit 
gained, a vast waste extends as far as the eye can reach, covered with a gray 
expanse of huge boulders of rock, between which the passage is most labori- 
ous, — a continual see-saw up and down, now grazing the shins against a 
sharp stone, now halting to extricate the horse's feet from some rocky trap, 
in which the poor beast often leaves its shoes, fixed as in a vice. Over the 
last slope, and there is the snow-covered home of the reindeer, a boundless 
plain of stone, with here and there masses of snow, a roaring torrent that has 
its source at the glacier's foot, and all around a dazzling array of peaks, 
robed in eternal snow." 



OVER THE FILLE FJELD. 



301 



went on to the next station, Tune, a mile and a half, 
over a hilly but picturesque country, the road winding 
along the face of the mountain, above a lake called 
the Mjos Vand, or Mjosen in Vang (name of the par- 
ish), or Lille Mjosen, the little Mjosen, to distinguish 
it from the larger Mjosen north of Christiania. This 
beautiful lake stretches from Skogstad to Tune, and a 
chain of lakes runs to the south from it, and another 
to the southeast, which our road follows for several 
stages. Across these lakes we see high mountains; 
and beyond them lies another great basin, the Tyen 
Vand, 3,500 feet above the sea (the Mjos Vand is 
1,576), and beyond it rise the peaks of the Jotuns 
(great Galdhopiggen, the tallest giant of all, 8,300 
feet), and to the west, the Horungerne, guarding the 
Sogne Fjord. 

A bridle path leads across this wild region to the 
Aardal Vand (at the head of the fjord), through a 
valley of wonderful waterfalls, following the stream 
which connects these two lakes. By starting early 
from Nystuen this may be traversed in a day. 

What a pity we are such feeble folk that all these 
delightful excursions appeal to us in vain ! 

Shortly before reaching Tune we passed a hotel 
on the lake shore, called Odnaes, which is said to 
furnish " first-rate accommodation at extremely mod- 
erate prices." The traveller is warned, however, that 
the station-master at Tune will not put himself out of 
the way to procure horses for people who stop at 
Odnaes, instead of at his house. Such warnings are 
frequent in Bennett's guide-book; but my brother found 
that horses could be procured at these hotels, as well 
as at the regular stations. 



302 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



The station-house at Tune, which lies about a 
quarter of a mile off the road, is a comfortable place, 
"with fourteen good beds and obliging people." Four 
or five of these beds were in a large room and a smaller 
one adjacent, to which we were conducted to wait for 
dinner; and while resting upon them we discussed the 
question whether to wait here for Will, or go on with 
John and Jennie who were getting tired of posting, 
and bent on a return to civilization. If we had read 
in "Bennett's Guide," of the "excursion to be made 
from this station to the top of a mountain called 
Grindefjeld, 3,500 feet high, from which there is a 
magnificent view; reindeer generally seen on the road 
■ — the whole trip requiring about three hours," I think 
we should have remained; but Murray said nothing 
about it and there seemed no special inducement. We 
were sorry later. Dinner was .down-stairs in the com- 
mon room, at a long table with other guests. The 
station-master's daughter, a pretty girl who spoke a 
little English, to her father's evident admiration, 
waited on us; and we had a sweet omelet for dessert, 
which was something unexpected. 

We went on to Oiloe, three-quarters of a mile, over 
a fine road, round the mountain Qvamskleve, over which 
the road formerly climbed, until this was made, in 1862. 
It follows the windings of the lake, and is sometimes 
blasted out of the rocks. 

In this region stood the old Church of Vang (in 
the style of the one at Borgund), which was purchased 
by the king of Prussia thirty years ago, for eighty specie 
dollars, and removed to Silesia. He erected a new one 
in its place, of substantial stone, which will last for 
many years. 



OVER THE FILLE FJELD. 



Bishop Pontoppidan considered the road between 
Skogstad and Vang, along the Little Mjosen Lake, 
the most dangerous part of the Fille Fjeld. There 
were passes so narrow that if two horsemen met, one 
must clamber up among the rocks, and kick his horse 
over the precipice, to allow the other to go by ! 

One wonders if such catastrophes ever happened. 

Murray tells a wolf story about this region, where 
wolves are sometimes seen, though said never to be 
dangerous except in winter, and not then, unless in 
companies and pressed by hunger. "In the winter of 
1846, a peasant, when sledging on one of the lakes, 
was attacked by a pack of six wolves. Fortunately, 
he had his axe with him; and his horse fought gal- 
lantly with his fore feet, as the wolves sprang at his 
throat. Between them, three of the wolves were crip- 
pled, and while the others were devouring them, the 
man and his horse reached a place of safety. Imme- 
diately blood is drawn from a wolf, his companions fall 
upon him and devour him." 

Mr. Laing, who was in Norway in 1835, says the 
wolves are not so dangerous as in the south of Europe 
or Poland, although more numerous. They very rarely 
attack a man, and are not dreaded even by women and 
children. It is dangerous to meet a herd on a plain 
or a frozen lake, especially on moonlight nights; but 
the animal is so timid, in general, that it is difficult 
to get within shot of him. 

Yet, when least expected, he will dash into the 
road, and take away your dog, close to the sledge. 
A merchant of Levanger had one taken from between 
his legs, in his sledge, and a lad on horseback one from 
before him on the saddle. 



304 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



That curious little animal, the lemming rat, is often 
seen on the Fille Fjeld. Mr. Shepard, who saw some 
specimens, describes them as "droll little animals, not 
unlike Guinea pigs in size and shape; their color of a 
sandy tortoise shell. When they saw us, they scut- 
tled off, and if overtaken, sat up boldly on their 
haunches, venting their anger and surprise in shrill, 
pettish barks." Pontoppidan says that in their migra- 
tions they carry their young on their backs or in their 
mouths, and " if they meet the peasants, will stand 
undaunted, and bark at them like little dogs." On this 
account, he says, they were sometimes called " Lorn 
hunde." He doubts whether the common belief that 
they fall from the clouds is correct, unless they are 
first taken up by fogs, and so carried from one place 
to another. No one who has chanced to see the ground 
alive with little toads, after a shower, will wonder 
much at the popular delusion that such things "rain 
down." 

The lemmings usually live in holes on the high 
mountains, and are not especially social in their hab- 
its; but at intervals of from five to ten years they pro- 
ceed in vast numbers to the cultivated regions, eating 
every green thing on their way. They are supposed 
to migrate from want of food, and the following win- 
ters have been noticed to be unusually severe. 

They move in a straight line, and if obliged to go 
round any object, immediately resume their former 
course. Innumerable enemies follow in their train, 
such as owls, hawks and weasels; many perish in try- 
ing to pass rivers and precipices, and but few sur- 
vive to return to their native mountains. 

An annual holiday was formerly kept in Bergen, 



OVER THE FILLE FJELD. 



called the Mouse Festival, which originated in a fast 
formerly established to avert this plague; which, judg- 
ing from the exorcism used, was supposed to proceed 
directly from the devil * 

Finding fresh horses at Oiloe we sat in our carriage 
while they were attached to it, although urged by the 
pleasant-faced woman in charge to come in for refresh- 
ment and even to stay over night. She asked us if we 
knew Paul du Chaillu. We had not heard his name 
mentioned since going up the Gudbrandsdal, but here 
he was held in pleasant remembrance, and she was de- 
lighted when John, avoiding useless explanations, re- 
plied in the affirmative. A little girl came out to in 
spect us, and when we asked her name, " Hvad hedder 
De ? " responded " Synnove." 

We ought to have gone into the house to see the 
room adorned with paintings left by Norwegian artists 
who have been here sketching. Perhaps the landlady 
was telling us about them, for we could not make out 
all she said. We should have done wisely, as events 
proved, to pass the night at Oiloe. 

While we were here, our acquaintance, Mr. R., drove 
up in a cariole with a little skydspige between his 

* Captain de Capell Brooke, who visited Norway in 1820, gives this ex- 
orcism, both in Latin and English. It applies to various sorts of vermin: " I 
exorcise you, pestiferous worms, mice, birds, or locusts, or other animals, by 
God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost X, that you depart 
immediately from these fields or vineyards or waters, and dwell in them ■ no 
longer, but go away to those places in which you can harm no person; and 
on the part of God and the whole heavenly choir, and the Holy Church of 
God, cursing you whithersoever you shall go, daily wasting away and de- 
creasing, till no remains of you be found in any place. Which may He 
vouchsafe to do, who shall come to judge the living and the dead, and the 
world by fire. Amen." 



3o6 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



knees. He had to wait for a horse, but overtook us at 
the next station. 

We had capital horses and good drivers and made 
the next stage in fine style. These little, dun-colored 
horses, with light manes and forelock, were like those 
in the Romsdal, and were the best we had in crossing 
the Fille Fjeld. We enjoyed the drive through the 
twilight, up and down numerous hills and along the 
mountain side, now clothed with forests of birch and 
pine (we began to see trees near Skogstad, stunted 
birches and mountain willows), with occasional glimpses 
of the Beina Elv, and a fine waterfall, just before reach- 
ing the station of Stee, one Norsk mile from Oiloe. 
We had intended passing the night here; but the 
houses were all full. It was between 10 and II P. M. 
and we were tired and cold; but there was no help for 
us. The kind women, in the little cabin used as a 
kitchen, when we complained of being " meget koldt," 
hastened to kindle a fire in the curious, corner chim- 
ney-place, and we warmed ourselves by the cheerful 
blaze, while the horses were changed. 

Mr. Bennett says of this station, " If you wish to 
push on farther, and you are informed that there are 
no horses, examine the daybook"; but no effort was 
made to detain us; in fact, I believe they gave us 
horses insufficiently rested, in their desire to get rid 
of us. Two very small boys were sent with us as 
skyds, perhaps because one was afraid to go alone in 
the gathering darkness. 

From Stee to Reien is a long stage, one and three- 
quarters miles, over a very hilly road, taking usually 
nearly two hours. We were longer, because our horses 
were certainly far from "friske," as the small boys per- 



OVER THE FILLE FJORD. 



3°7 



sisted in calling them. They travelled pretty well at 
first, but before long it was impossible to urge them 
out of a walk. 

When we reached Olken, about half way between 
the two stations, — a hotel much frequented by summer 
boarders, where the mountain air is considered bene- 
ficial to weak lungs, — we decided to try for beds, and 
drove a quarter of a mile through the fields to the 
house. The people were all asleep; but we roused 
some women in the rear of the house, who told us it 
was as full as possible, and they could not take us in, 
nor even give us fresh horses. 

There was a church near by, and a large comforta- 
ble-looking Prestegaard. Should we rouse up the pas- 
tor and crave hospitality ? We had not quite the as- 
surance to do it, thinking we were not in an extremity 
to justify such a proceeding. So we plodded on wearily, 
a mile or two farther. Suddenly, in ascending a steep 
hill, our horses began to pull apart from each other, 
and then one of them tumbled down. We were all 
out directly, and John managed to get the fallen ani- 
mal on his feet again, with the help of the little skyds, 
who still insisted that they were " gode Heste — friske 
Heste," and, leading and whipping the poor tired crea- 
tures, while the skyds pushed behind the trille, he got 
it at length to the top of the hill. We walked up all 
the hills after that, and down the steep ones, fearing 
an accident. John drove our horses, and we took turns 
with Jane in the gig. It was a strange experience, 
this night journey; but there was a fascination in the 
silence of the deep twilight (even now there was no 
darkness), and anything so eerie and fairylike as the 
whispering of the night air among the slender birches 



3 o8 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



I never heard. Were our horses bewitched, and were 
the spirits of the forest laughing at our discomfiture ?* 

It was I A. M. when we finally reached the station 
of Reien, and made our way into the courtyard. All 
were asleep here; but the house-mother was soon roused, 
and helped to bring in our luggage; while the poor lit- 
tle skyds unharnessed the horses, mounted their backs 
and started for home, with a little extra drikke penge 
to comfort them. We were too far gone in weariness 
to be critical in the matter of beds, although it ap- 
peared that these narrow couches must be shared by 
two, there being but three vacant for five persons. 

Next morning we found that the rooms were very 
bare and not over clean; but we were thankful for a 
roof to shelter us, and beds of any kind upon which to 
stretch our weary limbs. 

We went on about 9 A. M., after an unsatisfactory 
breakfast; but one could not expect much in this house. 
Here, as elsewhere, we noticed that the women did 
much of the heavy work, while the men stood loafing 
about, and did nothing but care for the horses and put 
them into the carriages. Women always came out to 
take in the luggage, and replaced it in the carriage, 
unless my brothers, with American chivalry, saved 
them the trouble. The road from Reien to the next 
station, Lille Strand, is very hilly, and though but one 
and one-eighth miles (about eight miles, English), 
Bennett allows two and one-half hours for the stage. 

* Fuller acquaintance with the superstitions of the country would have 
suggested that our troubles were owing to the Py slings, ghosts of murdered 
babes, who flit about, wailing, as many years as they should have spent on 
earth, and haunt belated travellers, dragging on the wheels, so that the 
strongest horses lose their power. 



OVER THE FILLE FJORD. 



309 



We had good horses, and enjoyed the scenery. Shortly 
before reaching the station we passed the hotel of Fage- 
naes, on the Strande Fjord, one of the chain of lakes 
that the road follows all the way from Stee to Fryden- 
lund, the next station in advance. In consequence of 
our meagre breakfast, we lunched on biscuits and milk 
while waiting for horses, and John and Jennie, liking 
the looks of the place, concluded to stop for dinner, 
while we posted on to Frydenlund. 

The scenery was very fine. At our left expanded 
the lake, one thousand one hundred and thirty-seven 
feet above the sea, lying among hills, which we should 
call mountains if we had not crossed so many. We 
overtook an old woman, who had a wooden bowl of 
wild strawberries, containing a quart or more, which 
she offered for sale. They were nicely hulled, and we 
took them with delight, for we had not seen straw- 
berries since leaving Italy, in May. (This was the 
28th of July.) Fully satisfying the old woman by the 
payment of twelve skillings, and making her under- 
stand, by pantomime, that the skyd would bring back 
her wooden bowl, we reserved the strawberries for our 
dinner. 

Arrived at Frydenlund, our first business was to 
find a dish for our strawberries; our next, to write in 
the daybook, and order horses; our third, to order 
dinner. Mr. R. drove up and partook of a hasty lunch, 
while we waited, and we shared the berries with him. 
When dinner was announced, we found two French 
gentlemen at the table, who seemed in uncommon 
spirits; but nothing that they said explained the cause 
of their hilarity. It was contagious, however, and we 
had a jolly time. The dinner deserved good humor, 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



for more delicious trout than those caught in the 
Strande Fjord were never tasted, and our strawber- 
ries, with the rich cream furnished by the landlady, 
were of exquisite flavor. The station-master's daugh- 
ter speaks English, and the people are very kind and 
attentive. 

John and Jane arrived before we finished our din- 
ner, in time to taste the strawberries (which held out 
like the widow's cruise), and the delicious coffee with 
which our repast was concluded ; and hearing our 
opinion of the lake trout, they at once decided to 
spend the night at Frydenlund. 

We started at 5 P. M. and made the next stage of one 
and five-eighths miles in two hours, with good horses and 
driver, and over a splendid road. We climbed, by a wind- 
ing path, the mountain which separates the Etnedal from 
the Baegnadal, descending with frightful rapidity on 
the opposite side. We tried in vain to make our skyd 
slacken his speed, and again longed for the phrase, 
"Do not drive so near that precipice!" as we watched 
the perilous proximity of our wheels to the outer edge, 
and almost held our breath in constant dread of a ca- 
tastrophe. With this exception, the drive was a charm- 
ing one. The mountain was covered with pines, and 
the valley of the Etne, into which we descended, was 
wild and beautiful. Crossing the stream, we went up 
another hill and followed the ascending road to Grav- 
dalen, on the plateau; changing horses at a station 
called Sveen. We went on without much delay for 
an hour and a half longer, making an almost constant 
descent to Tomlevolden, one and one-eighth miles. 
The dust was very troublesome, and we were told 
there had been no rain for a month in this part of 



OVER THE FILLS FJORD. 



the country. We passed a house far down below us 
on the hillside, and saw a little maiden holding up a 
white dish to attract our attention. Stopping the 
horses, we waited for her to come up, and behold, 
more strawberries. She was not willing to part with 
her dish, so we contrived a cornucopia of paper, and 
carried them carefully to Tomlevolden, for our supper. 

The station-house here was a large building, painted 
white, with a porch in front, and it looked so hospita- 
ble that we at once decided to spend the night, if beds 
could be obtained. A large front chamber was as- 
signed to Blossom and me, and a smaller one to Miss 
M«, but when other guests arrived the landlady came, 
with many apologies, to beg that she would give up 
the latter and allow them to put up a third bedstead 
in our room. We had tea down-stairs, in the pleasant 
guest-room; quite an English repast, with bacon and 
eggs, and our strawberries and cream. .This house 
was the largest, and most comfortably furnished, we 
had seen since leaving Bergen. Our chamber was at- 
tractive, with white curtains at the windows and white 
counterpanes on the beds, and everything was clean. 

At breakfast next morning we met two ladies from 
Christiania, who were spending some weeks here for 
the sake of the country air. They spoke English and 
had read Lady Diana Beauclerck's book, "A Summer 
and Winter in Norway," and were interested in our ac- 
counts of the Romsdal and the North, as well as our 
more recent experiences, having travelled very little 
in their own country. 

We explored the premises thoroughly, during the 
morning; walking through the field behind the house, 
to a little hanging grove on the bank of the river, 



312 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



and attempting an ascent of the hill on the opposite 
side of the road; from which we were discouraged by 
the fact that the only route lay through a sort of cat- 
tle yard or pasture, full of stones, where pigs were 
rooting about and cows feeding. We decided that 
Tomlevolden was pleasanter indoors than out; and 
as John and Jennie arrived in time for dinner, we 
ordered horses soon after, and drove to Odnaes that 
evening, to be ready for taking the boat on the Rands 
Fjord early next morning. 

The landlord at Odnaes apparently never refused a 
guest. The pige told us the house was full, and full it 
seemed to be; for the only room assigned the five of 
us was a sort of parlor, furnished with chairs, tables 
and an old sofa, very hard and narrow. We had our 
tea in a little room, close by, which, we were given to 
understand, would also be reserved for our use; but 
what we were to sleep on did not appear evident. 
When we came in about 10 P. M., from a little stroll 
through the fields to the lake, we found our beds 
ready. Three were made up on ordinary cots, an- 
other looked like an exaggerated kneading trough, 
and the fifth was the sofa, with chairs set against it 
to keep the occupant from rolling off. The kneading 
trough fell to my share; it had two board sides with 
a canvas bottom, and was laid across chairs or wooden 
horses. As soon as I lay down, the two boards fitted 
closely to my sides, and I had the pleasant sensation 
of occupying my coffin prematurely. 

We were allowed to repose on these luxurious 
couches until 6 A. M., when we had to rise, breakfast, 
and walk down to the steamer, which left at eight 
o'clock. 



XVII. 



THROUGH THE RINGERIGET. 
HE Rands Fjord is a pretty lake, about fifty Eng 



lish miles in length, but quite narrow, and shut 
in by mountains on both sides. The Etna Ely flows 
into it at the northern extremity and out of it at the 
southern, and finds its way afterwards through an- 
other lake, the Tyri Fjord, into one of the branches of 
the Christiania Fjord. The Beina, or Baegna, Elv 
(which we followed down from its source in the gloomy 
Utza Vand at Xystuen) winds through a chain of lakes 
as far as Frydenlund, where it is joined by two smaller 
streams, and flows down another valley to the Spiril- 
len Lake, thence to the same Tyri Fjord, and so to 
the sea. 

I cannot ascertain why one inland lake should be 
called "Vand" ("water," like the lakes in Westmore- 
land, Ulles wafer, Derwent water, etc.,) and another 
" Fjord," unless the latter was supposed to communi- 
cate more directly with the sea. Another name for a 
large lake is " Indsoe," like the German " See." 

The ancient notions of the lakes and rivers were al- 
most as vague as those of the height of mountains. In 
the map given in Pontoppidan's "Natural History of 
Norway," I find the Rands Fjord entirely left out, and 
the Spirillen twice or three times its present size, while 




3H 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



the Fille Fjeld is placed two degrees farther north than 
its actual position. 

The little steamers which run up and down the lake 
daily are Harald Harfager and Olaf Tryggvesson; one 
of them leaving Odnaes every morning, and the other 
connecting with the train from Christiania, at Hade- 
land's Glasvaerk and Kokkestuen; so humble and ser- 
viceable have these old heroes become ! You would 
not think it from their names, but they are extremely 
small — much smaller than the " Kong Oscar" on the 
Mjosen Vand, or even than the Hardangeren. It was 
a question whether there would be room for our trille 
and gig and the carioles which had to be put on 
board, and we surveyed with anxiety the operation of 
hoisting and packing them into the little space forward 
reserved for their accommodation. We were closely 
packed, too, on the tiny hurricane deck, with no room 
to pick and choose places. One must be thankful to 
get a movable stool, instead of being sandwiched be- 
tween two Norwegians on a hard bench, with a harder 
railing cutting one's spine asunder. 

The scenery was pretty; beautiful at times. Wood- 
ed mountains, fifteen hundred to two thousand feet in 
height, come close to the shore, on the western side, 
separating this lake from the Spirillen; but on the 
eastern lie the fertile fields of Hedalen, and a road 
runs along the shore, with seven or eight stations, at 
most of which the steamer touches, or stops for pas- 
sengers to come off in boats. We should have enjoyed 
the trip if the little steamer had not been pervaded by 
a sickening odor of frying fish, which kept us on the 
verge of illness. Somebody must have been constantly 
partaking of breakfast, lunch or dinner in the tiny cabin. 



THROUGH THE RINGERIGE T. 



315 



No doubt the lake trout were good to eat; but how 
could anybody eat in such an atmosphere ! 

The steamer reached Kokkestuen at 2 P. M., af- 
ter stopping first at Hadeland's Glasvaerk, a large 
manufactory. 

With much backing and filling, Olaf Tryggvesson 
ran his nose into a narrow slip under a great shed, 
where tackle was hanging to pull up the trilles and 
carioles; and we made our way on shore, and up a hill 
to the station-house, where we ordered dinner. 

The train was to leave for Christiania, via Drammen, 
at three o'clock, and John and Jane had decided to take 
it, leaving us three spinsters to finish our journey alone. 

While waiting for dinner we discovered that two 
reindeer were kept on exhibition in the stable. It was 
odd, after going through the reindeer country, at the 
extreme north, and over the fjelds, without seeing a 
single specimen, except the stuffed ones in the Bergen 
museum, to find them within a few hours, by rail, of 
Christiania. They were unhappy looking creatures, 
with rough, dark hair (it turns white, and grows thick 
in the winter), and immense, branching horns, covered 
with a sort of dark fur like moss; and they seemed so 
awkward and out of place in the little shed that we 
pitied them heartily. 

Dinner was a disappointment; nothing was eatable 
but the strawberries, and those were limited in quantity; 
and we said "Good-by" to our friends, and watched 
the departing train, with some heart sinkings. 

Now were we " Unprotected Females in Norway"; 
and it remained to be seen whether we should be treated 
with the kind courtesy which such characters received 
twenty years ago. 



316 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



I am obliged to confess that our first experience was 
not encouraging. Perhaps Kokkestuen is too near civ- 
ilization, and the building of the railway, while intro- 
ducing modern convenience and despatch, may have 
dispelled old-fashioned courtesy and kindness. 

The first thing to be done was to find somebody to 
put the trille in order; the next to have the horses 
attached to it. John had settled the bill, while attend- 
ing to the transfer of the gig to the train, and had 
written the order for horses in the daybook. But as 
nobody showed any disposition to attend to us, I went 
down to the shed to which the carriage had been re- 
moved from the steamer, and found some men to bring 
it out and get it ready, while I superintended the pack- 
ing of the baggage; and finally a man appeared with the 
horses, and began to attach them to the vehicle. I am 
sorry to complain of my friends, but I found them sadly 
lacking in sympathy. Instead of standing by me, like 
women and sisters, they left me quite alone, staying 
at the hotel until they saw the horses brought out, 
and then standing aloof and laughing at my distress. 
I had hard work to find one man at first, but before he 
got through, a collection of at least twenty men and 
boys were watching or assisting his endeavors, and we 
drove off amid a crowd of curious spectators. 

We had a half-grown boy for a driver, stupid and 
clumsy to the last degree. Almost immediately he 
turned off the high road into a rough path through the 
fields, climbing a hill near the station-house. We pro- 
tested, seeing the good road stretching plainly before 
us; but he said something about knowing best, and 
persisted. Perhaps he thought that, as the railroad 
ran to Honefos, and we preferred posting, he would 



THROUGH THE RINGERIGE T. 



317 



give us something as rural as possible; perhaps he was 
afraid of the train, or thought his horses would be. 

We plodded on, over a rough road, "across lots," 
hoping for better things, but it grew worse and worse. 
Up and down hills so steep and stony that we all got 
out and walked, fearing the trille would be upset or 
broken to bits, over a sort of corduroy road through 
swampy places, and over bridges made of rough logs, 
with no boards laid over them, through pine forests 
and upland pastures, lay our truly rural path — pretty 
enough if we had been on horseback, or in carioles 
belonging to the station; but we had the responsibility 
of the trille and harness on our minds, and feared both 
would come to grief. At last, Blossom, running down 
a steep, sandy slope, fell into her umbrella, and rolled 
down, all in a heap to the bottom. We hastened to 
extricate her, thankful to find only the bones of the 
umbrella broken. 

Finally we reached Honefos, distant by the regular 
road one and a half miles, Norsk, from Kokkestuen; 
and as we drove through the village, around a corner, 
one of our horses turned to the left, the other to the 
right, to the consternation of our skyd, and our own 
dismay, for that was the way our horses had acted, 
that memorable night, on the way to Reien. A man 
rushed out from a house near by, took them by their 
heads, and, when he had checked them, began to ar- 
range the harness which the stupid skyd had put on 
improperly, forgetting to cross the reins. It was a 
wonder we had not met with some accident on that 
dangerous piece of road. 

{Mem. — Ladies travelling alone in Norway should 
know how to harness horses.) 



3i8 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



We reached the station and discharged our stupid 
sykd, wishing we could relieve our feelings by giving 
them full expression in Norsk. We tried to complain 
to the station-master, who knew a little English; and 
he asked the boy why he had not brought us by the 
regular road? "The other was shorter." It had taken 
half as long again; for the horses, and we ourselves, 
had walked a good part of the way. I thought of en- 
tering a complaint in the daybook; but here again 
our Norsk was deficient; and I contended myself with 
warning travellers against by-roads to Kokkestuen. 

There is a pretty waterfall in Honefos, — where the 
Beina (or Baegna) Elv joins the Viols Elv, running 
from the Rands Fjord, — and other falls not far distant; 
and the hotels are said to be good. The town has 
about one thousand inhabitants and is one of the sta- 
tions on the Drammen Railroad. 

We went on with a better driver, along the regular 
road to Viig (one mile, Norsk), passing the village of 
Norderhaug, where the heroic Preistinn distinguished 
herself in 17 16, at the time of the Swedish invasion. 
Two hundred Swedish horsemen were quartered at the 
prestegaard and houses adjoining. The pastor was ill 
and helpless, but his wife plied the soldiers with drink 
while she sent word to the officer in command of a 
small Norwegian force in the neighborhood, who suc- 
ceeded in surprising the Swedes and captured or killed 
nearly all of them. 

On this road, called the Stensgade, one passes the 
ruins of the little church of Sten and a grave mound, 
said to be that of Halfdan the Black, father of Harald 
Harfager. 

Snorre Sturleson relates the manner of his death: 



THROUGH THE RINGERIGE T. 



319 



" Halfdan the Black was driving from a feast in 
Hadeland, and it so happened that his road lay over 
the lake called Rond (the Rands Fjord). It was in 
spring, and there was a great thaw. They drove across 
the bight called Rykensvig, where in winter there had 
been a pond broken in the ice for the cattle to drink 
at, and where the dung had fallen upon the ice the 
thaw had eaten it into holes. Now as the king drove 
over it the ice broke, and King Halfdan and many with 
him perished. He was then forty years old. He had 
been one of the most fortunate kings in respect of good 
seasons. The people thought so much of him that 
when his death was known, and his body was floated 
to Ringerige to bury it there, the people of most con- 
sequence from Raumarige, Westfold, and Hedemark 
came to meet it. All desired to take the body with 
them, to bury it in their own district; and they thought 
that those who got it would have good crops to ex- 
pect. At last it was agreed to divide the body into 
four parts. The head was laid in a mound at Stein, in 
Ringerige, and each of the others took his part home 
and buried it in a mound; and they have since been 
called Halfdan's Mounds." 

At Viig we had to wait for horses, and ordered sup- 
per; asking for "Ask," as we were so near the Tyri 
Fjord, and getting it after a while, but nothing but rye 
bread and tea in addition. This is a poor station, and 
few people stop here. 

Getting our fresh horses, and a small boy as driver, 
we started in the twilight for Homledal, one and three- 
eighths Norsk miles distant, where we hoped to sleep. 
Soon after leaving Viig, we crossed an arm of the lake, 
over a long bridge, and passed a comfortable-looking 



3 20 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



house, very pleasantly situated, called Sundvolden, an- 
other summer hotel. We should have taken our horses 
for this place, from Honefos, and spent the night; and 
then early in the morning we could have taken saddle- 
horses and made the ascent to the " Kongens Udsight " 
(King's View), said to be the finest in the region. If 
we had waited for Brother Will, or had had Ben- 
nett's guide-book with us, and studied it properly, we 
could not have failed to do this. In no other way 
can one get an adequate idea of the beauties of the 
Ringeriget, as this region is called; the dominion of 
King Ring, one of the petty sovereigns of the olden 
time, who traced his descent to Nor, from whom the 
country is named Nor-way. Nor is supposed to be 
Noah. 

Ring is the king of Frithiof's Saga, and his rige or 
rike (German Reich, old English rik, which survives in 
bishopric) Avas a narrow kingdom, but a fertile and 
lovely one. Even in the twilight, and seen by glimpses 
through the pine forests and along the mountain side, 
the scenery is very fine, as the road winds along the 
shore of the lakes — the Tyri Fjord ana! the Holz Fjord 
— with islands dotting their surface; but we were weary, 
and a little disheartened, after the fatigues and mis- 
haps and insufficient nourishment of the day. What a 
pity we had not taken horses for Sundvolden ! An- 
other lost opportunity, which follows us with unavail- 
ing regret, was the Dronningens Udsight (Queen's 
View), not far from Kongen's Udsight. These views 
are compared to the one enjoyed in the descent from 
the Jura to the Lake of Geneva; though the heights of 
Gousta Fjeld, seventy miles to the west, cannot vie 
with Mont Blanc and the Aiguilles in grandeur. 



THROUGH THE RINGERIGE T. 



321 



It was late when we reached Homledal, and we 
found no one up but the house-mother, who received us 
kindly, called a man to take care of the horses, gave 
us milk to drink, and bestowed us all three in a little 
bedroom on the ground floor, the other rooms being 
occupied. 

It shows how fearless we were in Norway — whether 
with or without reason I am not sure — that we slept 
soundly in this room, with a door that had no lock (I 
think our doors never locked at the station-houses), 
and an open window so near the ground that it could 
easily have been entered from outside. 

We awoke rested next morning, in spite of our hard 
beds; had the usual breakfast of coffee and eggs, and 
got off at 9 A. M. We had a little extra trouble in 
getting ready, having to do the horse-talk as well as 
the cooking-talk; looking sharply to the harness, and 
making sure that the reins were crossed, at least, and 
enjoining the men to " smor hiulene " (grease the 
wheels), a process which Mr. Bennett had impressed 
upon us never to neglect. 

Then we paid the " Regningen," shook hands with 
the landlady, and departed. 

From Homledal to Sandviigen it is one and five- 
eighths miles; hilly, but more down hill than up. Go- 
ing the other way, you pay for two miles. We crossed 
a mountain, over one thousand feet high, and from the 
western side of its summit enjoyed a lovely view of 
the Tyri Fjord and Holz Fjord. After descending on 
the eastern side our road lay along the Sandviig's Elv 
through the lovely Isidal. 

We had an ambitious skyd, who whipped his willing 
steeds unmercifully, in spite of all our remonstrances. 
14* 



322 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



These would have been more effectual if the Norsk 
word for "whip" had been at our command. But 
it had stepped out. I cried, " Ikke whip Heste, gode 
Heste ! " amid the laughter of my companions, and he 
whipped them all the more, till Blossom checked her 
mirth, pulled the whip away, and shaking her head at 
him, intimated that she would take care of it herself. 
In consequence of this injudicious haste, the tired horses 
walked all the latter half of the journey. 

At Sandviig we changed to fresh horses and a more 
reasonable skyd, and drove the eight miles (English) 
to Christiania in a moderate but comfortable fashion. 
The road led us into the one we had traversed when 
driving out to Oscarshald, and we came into the city 
not far from the palace. As we approached civilized re- 
gions we began to look with critical eyes at each other's 
dusty and somewhat dilapidated apparel. We had had 
no thought of "looks" for the last six weeks, even in 
Throndhjem or Bergen; but Christiania was different. 
Blossom shut up her broken umbrella, and bravely en- 
dured the vertical rays of the sun — for it was nearly 
I P. M. One more amusing experience befell us. We 
were to meet our friends at the Victoria Hotel, as they 
preferred to try a change. We doubted the wisdom of 
it; and rather longed for a sight of Miss Hopkins and 
the fair-haired porter; but we had acquiesced. Now 
we did not know the way to the hotel, nor did our 
skyd, who had little acquaintance with the city. Nei- 
ther could he drive to Mr. Bennett's house, in the 
Store Strand gade. We drove to the market-place, 
and got directions from a cab-driver, but even then had 
some difficulty in finding the hotel. (The little map in 
Bennett's guide-book would have helped us, but that 



THROUGH THE RINGERIGET. 



323 



was in Will's pocket.) Arrived at the hotel, a servant 
was despatched with the trille and skyd to Mr. Ben- 
nett's house, and we were led away to comfortable 
rooms, where we found rest and refreshment and our 
waiting friends. A little disposed to crow over us, 
they were, upon hearing our adventures, and protest 
that they had seen quite as much, or even more, in 
their trip by rail; for they had gone to Drammen and 
come up thence, along the Christiania Fjord. If we 
had known that the railway passed through so nearly 
the same scenery as the post-road, I think we should 
have taken it. Better still would it have been to stop 
at that quiet, pleasant house of Sundvolden over Sunday. 

By stopping at Haugsund, the station above Dram- 
men, with our trille (or without it, if we had been dis- 
posed to try carioles or carts), we might have posted 
to Kongsberg, about two Norsk miles, and visited the 
famous silver mines, discovered in 1623, and made an 
excursion to the Larbro Fos, about half an hour's walk 
down the Lauven Elv, below the town. Then, post- 
ing on into the Thelemark region, about three Norsk 
miles, we should come to the curious old church, near 
Lysthuus, in Hitterdal, like the one at Borgund in 
some respects, but larger. Five Norsk miles farther 
bring us into the heart of Thelemark, with its quaint 
costumes and dwellings, described by Bayard Taylor 
in his " Sketches of Northern Travel." Or, by turning 
northwards from Lysthuus, we might have visited the 
wild region of the Gousta Fjeld and the famous Rjukan 
Fos, by some travellers considered the finest of the great 
waterfalls of Norway. Most of the path from Dal to 
the falls (about five English miles) can be accomplished 
on horseback, with perhaps a mile of climbing on foot; 



324 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



and the excursion is easier for ladies than that to the 
Morke Fos, the Voring Fos or the Skaeggedal Fos. 

The ascent of the Gousta Fjeld is a ten hours' ex- 
pedition; most of it, I think, on horseback; and the 
view from the summit, nearly six thousand feet high, 
is said to be magnificent, including the whole district 
of the Ringeriget, and seventy miles to the westward, 
on the route to Bergen. For this excursion, about five 
days from Kongsberg should be allowed. 

I say, "we might have done it," but I am far from 
advising such an excursion to ladies travelling by them- 
selves, though Madame Pfeiffer accomplished it; for the 
roads are rough and the stations poor. And, to con- 
fess the truth, I think it would have been nearly im- 
possible for us, in our jaded and discouraged condition. 

The Victoria Hotel is a large building on the Dron- 
ningens gade, with an annex on the Store Strand gade, 
two blocks beyond, near the railway station and steamer 
office. It is much patronized by English travellers; 
but it is an old house, poorly ventilated; and in many 
respects we liked it less than the Grand Hotel, the 
situation of which is far preferable. The pleasantest 
thing about the Victoria, except when it rained, was 
the large marquee in the court, in which table d'hote 
was served ; and the dinners were uniformly good. 
Breakfast and tea were served in the dining-room, 
or on the veranda running round the court, or brought 
to one's own room at an extra charge. 

Monday afternoon, quite to our surprise, as we were 
not looking for him so soon, Will drove in, sunburnt 
and dusty, and minus umbrella as well as hat. He 
had broken it, punching a rock with it, he said, and 
had used a green bough afterwards to shield him from 



THROUGH THE RINGERIGET. 



3 2 5 



the sun. Had he had a good time ? Oh splendid, ex- 
cept for the last day or two. Why had we advised 
him to come by the Spirillen ? The boats were taken 
off, and the stations were wretched and the horses mis- 
erable. And why had we not waited for him at Tune, 
or at Frydenlund, or even at Sundvolden ? He had 
come from there that morning, after climbing the 
mountain to see the King's View. Did we see that ? 
No ! Nor the Queen's View ? Nor the Princess So- 
phia's at Homledal ? Why, we had seen nothing at 
all. Probably we had not even walked down the gar- 
den at the back of the house, to see the view of the 
lake ! 

Certainly we had not; we did not know there was any 
such view there. He must remember we had not Ben- 
nett's guide-book. (Upon consulting the guide-book 
it appeared that the garden view was to be enjoyed, 
not at Homledal, but at Naes, a station for steamers 
on the Tyri Fjord, some three miles on the way to 
Viig.) But the Princess Sophia's view — "inaugurated," 
as Murray hath it, in i860, by the present queen — we 
should have been glad to visit, if we had known more 
about it, and supposed we had time to spare It must 
be confessed, we were getting rather indifferent to views, 
and had grown somewhat tired of posting. 

We found he had posted through from Sundvolden 
without stopping for dinner; so we ordered an early 
supper, in our sitting-room; and, when his hunger was 
appeased, he related his adventures. 



XVIII. 

journal of a visit to the folge fond. 

July 23, 1875. 
TI7E turned out about 6.30 A. M., after a fair night's 
* » rest, considering the crowded condition of the 
cabin — berths, sofas and floor being filled with sleepers 
— and found ourselves near Ulvik, a pretty village on 
the west arm of the fjord above Eide. The distance 
by water is about twenty-four English miles; but the 
land route, though much shorter, is over so rough a 
road that it requires four hours' travel on foot or 
horseback. 

We steamed thence to Vik, on the Eide Fjord — the 
place of landing for those who visit the Voring Fos — 
and thence to Odde, at the head of the Sor Fjord, the 
headquarters for tourists visiting the Skjaeggedal Fos, 
the Buerbrae glacier and the Folge Fond, where we ar- 
rived about 1.30 P. M. 

The scenery was fine all the way; and as we neared 
Odde we saw the great snowy mass of the Folge Fond, 
which we had passed coming up the Hardanger Fjord 
the day previous. To my mingled astonishment and 
dismay, I observed that our pilot, when not actually 
occupied in altering the course of the vessel (although 
our lives depended on his vigilance, and he still had 
hold of the wheel), was reading an apparently attrac- 



JOURNAL OF A VISIT TO THE FOLGE FOND. 327 



tive little book, from the pages of which he looked up 
now and then to see if we were in danger of running 
on a rock, or running down a craft, or if our course 
needed changing. I hope he always looks up, in sea- 
son to avoid disaster ! 

As there are but two small hotels in Odde, and 
no steamer was to leave for three days, there was 
a great scramble among the numerous passengers, 
who intended waiting for the next steamer, to se- 
cure rooms. I was among the first off, and bolting 
up the street, stopped at the first hotel I came to 
(Prestegaard's), and bespoke a "senge" of the land- 
lady. I had much difficulty in preserving it from the 
clutches of the passengers who followed me; but they 
all found accommodations, either in this house or others. 

I found this hotel very comfortable, although so 
small and unpretending. The landlady spoke only 
Norsk; but there were some jolly Norwegians stop- 
ping there, who spoke German and English, and who 
were very cordial and kind. 

After dinner I found a guide (called forer, sounding 
much like the German fiihrer), and went to see the 
Buerbrae. After walking about a mile, we came to a 
crystal lake, across which we were rowed, perhaps half 
a mile, landing at the mouth of a ravine, down which 
rushed a mountain torrent. We walked up the ravine, 
about half a Norwegian mile (overtaking a large party 
from the steamer on the way), through mountains ris- 
ing high on either side, in all conceivable shapes, and 
came suddenly upon the beautiful blue glacier. It 
comes from the top of the mountain range, in several 
broad streams (which unite before reaching the valley) 
and thrusts itself forward in the form of a wedge. It 



328 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



was the first glacier I had seen, and I looked at it with 
great interest. It has been entirely formed within fifty 
years, and is advancing rapidly down the valley. In 
1870 it advanced ninety yards, and four yards during 
one week in the summer of 1871. The torrent of the 
Buer is fed from this glacier, and pours from the wedge 
in a great stream, perhaps one third the width of the 
Rhone, as it issues from the fingers of its glove-shaped 
glacier.* 

On returning to Odde I engaged a forer for the 
Skjaeggedal Fos next day, and arranged to be called 
early, as the excursion is a long one. 

July 24. 

I was off by 6.30 A. M., beginning the journey in a 
boat, directly from the hotel, which is situated on the 
fjord. We rowed for about a Norsk mile, to Tyssedal, 
where the river Tyssa empties into the fjord. On the 
way we saw a whale spouting. The Tyssedal is a ra- 
vine, similar to the one leading to the Buerbrae, but 
infinitely wilder and grander; and the path, instead of 
keeping at the level of the stream, climbs to the left, 
over the side of the mountain, winding around over 
rocks, up steep ascents and among great boulders; 
once upon logs laid side by side, with holes cut in 
them for steps, and again upon the bare rock, sloping 
down to the precipice, which makes a sheer descent to 
the boiling torrent far below. 

While resting in one of these wild places I was over- 
taken by the two American brothers whom we met at 
Bergen, with their guide, and we joined forces for the 

* After seeing many of the glaciers of Switzerland, I still think the Buer- 
brae the cleanest, bluest, and most transparent of glaciers. 



JOURNAL OF A VISIT TO THE FOLGE FOND. 329 

remainder of the excursion. We had passed the worst 
of the path; the last part of the way was along the 
torrent, over and among large stones. After about 
two hours' walking we reached the Skjaeggedal farm, 
a Norsk mile from Tyssedal, where the valley widens, 
and changes its direction, as well as its name, turning 
to the right. The Tyssa takes its rise here in a moun- 
tain lake, and begins its wild and short career to the 
fjord by a plunge over a mass of rocks, forming a fine 
waterfall, which would be considered worth a visit in 
any country but Norway; but this was not what we 
had come to see. After crossing this river, which 
spreads out into a small lake below the falls, we 
walked up a hill to the great lake beyond, the Ringe- 
dals Vand. The water is so clear that you can see 
the bottom at a depth of thirty feet. 

There were only two boats on this lake, and as 
there was a large party of English people on the 
way, we were obliged to wait, in order to share our 
boat with some of them. It was two hours before they 
came up; so we gained nothing by our early start. A 
little planning the day before might have saved this 
detention, if we had known there were but two boats 
on the lakes. At last we got off; and, with four row- 
ers to each boat, we made astonishing time. The 
other boat started first; but we soon overtook it, and 
had a race, coming off victors, and reaching the falls 
nearly a mile ahead of them. We made the whole dis- 
tance, of a Norsk mile, in a little over an hour. The 
lake is a very beautiful one, resembling the Konig See, 
near Berchtesgaden, in the Bavarian Tyrol; although 
the rocky walls which surround it are more precipi- 
tate, and the numerous waterfalls which tumble down 



330 A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 

the cliffs are peculiarly characteristic of Norwegian 
scenery. The finest we passed was the Tyssetraen- 
gene, formed of two streams which unite, about half 
way down the rocky wall, and fall together into the 
lake. After passing a bend, we had the grand Skjaeg- 
gedal Fos in full view, at the head of the lake, distant 
two or three miles. It falls from a lake on top of the 
mountains, making a sheer descent of six hundred feet, 
to an irregular shelf of rock, from which it dashes, 
whirls and roars in cataracts, some three hundred feet 
more, to the lake. In appearance it resembles a sec- 
tion of Niagara, say some three hundred feet in width, 
with of course a great increase in height, but with 
perhaps a smaller volume of water to the same area. 
We landed, and went as near the falls as the slippery 
rocks, the strong current of wind, and the blinding 
spray would let us, and drank in the beauty and 
grandeur of the scene. 

Reluctantly we turned our faces homeward; and, as 
we ate our lunch in the boats, we cast many a longing 
look behind. 

We had intended to stop at the Tyssetraengene, on 
the way back, as the view from the lake gives an inad- 
equate idea of these falls; but we finally decided to be 
satisfied with this view, and kept on, to save time. We 
reached Odde by 6.30 P. M. I arranged to visit the 
Folge Fond next day with my American friends, and 
having engaged a guide, we prepared for another early 
start, as the excursion usually requires about twelve 
hours. 



July 25. 

We started by 6.30 A. M. The two gentlemen and 



'RNAL OF A VISIT TO THE FOLGE FOND. 331 



the guide were armed with alpenstocks; but I had only 
a long, rough walking-stick, with no iron spike in it. 
Our route as far as the Buerbrae was the same which I 
had followed two days before. This is frequently taken 
en route to or from the Folge Fond. Arrived at the 
glacier, we began to climb the side of the mountain 
which hems it in, on the right; and as we mounted 
higher and higher, our view of the Buerbrae became 
more and more extensive and beautiful; but it was 
dreadfully tough work. Many a time this ascent was 
so steep and slippery that it seemed almost impossible 
to make any progress, especially when our path was a 
zigzag across steep inclines of turf. As if to aggravate 
us, the goats jumped about on the slippery steep, like 
flies on a window pane, and not only tantalized us by 
the ease and freedom of their movements, but actually 
threatened to butt us off our pegs, and set us rolling 
down the hillside. Several times we were obliged to 
lie down and rest, and take breath, panting from 
exhaustion. 

It is usual for tourists to make the ascent of the 
Folge Fond from another side, and come down by this 
path; but our guide insisted on going up by the steep- 
est way, because he thought it would be dangerous to 
descend by it, when we were tired; and judging from 
the difficulty we had in descending by the easiest side, 
I think he was quite right. 

After an hour or so of desperate climbing, we 
reached the summit of the first pitch and came to a 
sort of irregular plateau, or vast shallow ravine. At 
our left lay the glacier, and to the right and in front 
of us stretched the vast ridge of snow and ice called 
the Folge Fond, which separated us from Odde. We 



332 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



had skirted the edge of it and got behind it. Our work 
was now comparatively easy. Leaving the deep gorge, 
out of which we had climbed, we struck across the 
plateau and over a brawling stream, stopping, after a 
while, for rest and refreshment. 

It was then about 10 A. M., and soon after it began 
to rain, and continued to rain at intervals through the 
day. All three of us had rubber overcoats, and I wore 
mine most of the time when it rained; but it was so 
heavy that its weight obstructed my movements, and 
it was so hot and uncomfortable that I thought it al- 
most worse than the dampness from which it protected 
me. After crossing the ravine we worked our way up, 
over rocks and stone, till we came to two or three long 
and wide . snowbanks, which we ascended with some 
fatigue, as our feet sank several inches in the snow. 
Then we came to a smooth, slippery glacier, which we 
were obliged to cross. It sloped upward, and I had 
great difficulty in making my way without an alpen- 
stock. At last I was forced to run up its surface, and 
make use of the momentum I had gained to get over 
the smooth places, taking advantage of every little in- 
equality in the ice to aid my progress. My companions, 
who were painfully toiling on, with their alpenstocks, 
wondered at my apparent waste of energy, and asked 
how I could do it; but I soon satisfied them that I 
could do nothing else, if I desired to make any 
progress. 

After crossing the glacier we came to the Folge Fond 
proper; a rounded, gradually sloping mass of snow, 
about seven Norsk miles in length, two in breadth and 
of unknown depth. The summit is between five and 
six thousand feet from the level of the fjord, and is 



JOURNAL OF A VISIT TO THE FOLGE FOND. 333 



shaped like an elephant's back. This was the mass of 
eternal snow we had seen shining in the sunlight from 
our steamer on the Hardanger Fjord, and again from 
the S6r Fjord, and the Ringedals Vand. An exten- 
sive and beautiful view of the fjords and islands, fjelds, 
lakes and glaciers, in all directions, should have re- 
warded us for our toil; but, alas ! a dense fog settled 
down upon us and prevented our seeing more than a 
few rods in any direction. We were compelled to 
guide our course by the compass. The ascent, at 
first quite steep, became less and less so, until finally 
we found ourselves walking on a level, and then on a 
descending slope, by which alone we knew that we 
had crossed the backbone of the snow-mountain. 

We saw numerous tracks in the snow, of birds and 
beasts, and also saw animals which, through the foggy 
atmosphere, we took for wolves until one of them 
spread a pair of wings and soared away. We went 
around numerous crevasses, and leaped over one of 
apparently bottomless depth. In descending, on the 
Odde side, our guide was uncertain of his whereabouts, 
aud tried several places before he found the right one. 
When we came to smooth slopes we slid down on our 
feet; and while edging our way along the side of a steep 
incline, one of the brothers lost his footing and slid 
down until brought up by a pile of rocks, but luckily 
he was not injured. 

Leaving the snow we found ourselves at the head 
of a narrow ravine which runs from the Folge Fond 
directly to the fjord. Down this steep descent we 
picked our way with care, lest our tired limbs should 
give way and we roll down, for a mile or more, into 
the sea. Our guide was a wonderfully muscular fellow, 



334 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



and seemed absolutely tireless, running down the steep 
slopes for a considerable distance and then waiting for 
us to overtake him. A stream tumbles down the ra- 
vine, forming many beautiful cascades and waterfalls, 
and as we got below the level of the fog, we could see 
the beautiful Sor Fjord far below us. Nevertheless the 
descent was most wearisome, and seemed well-nigh 
interminable. 

At last we reached the fjord, and found the little 
son of the guide waiting for us, with a boat, to take us 
to Odde, about half a mile distant, where we arrived 
at 3.30 P. M., none the worse for our tramp, and con- 
siderably elated at doing in nine hours what the guide- 
books said would take twelve. Perhaps they allow 
three hours for resting and enjoying the view from the 
summit. I took a bath and went to bed for a few 
hours, merely as a precautionary measure, and got up 
for supper feeling as well as usual. 

I had not then any experience of Alpine climbing, 
but had felt more fatigued after the ascent of Vesuvius, 
or even after climbing the mountain at the back of 
Lugano, beyond Monte Bre. The bracing air of Nor- 
way enables one to endure greater exertion without 
excessive fatigue than is possible in Southern Europe. 

The ascent of the Folge Fond has been made by 
ladies, with the assistance of horses, which can be 
taken on the Odde side. 

The Norwegian ponies are very sure-footed, and it 
is said they will go wherever a man can; but one feels 
safer on one's own legs. " The descent by the Buerbrae 
is not to be advised for ladies," says Bennett. That is 
putting it very mildly, for it is dangerous for anybody; 
and the ascent here is very difficult; but I suppose the 



JOURNAL OF A VISIT TO THE FOLGE FOND. 335 

ladies can come down as they go up — by the longer 
path. Five ladies made this excursion in 1869, and 
four in 1873. 

There are several fine waterfalls in the vicinity of 
Odde to which an excursion may be made, partly by 
cariole, in about eight hours. The Laathe Fos and 
Skar Fos, on the left from Odde, and the Espeland 
Fos on the right, are all in sight of one another, about 
two hours and a half from Odde; and on the way you 
pass the Hildal Fos, a succession of falls of about a 
thousand feet. With another day to spare, I might 
have made this excursion; but the steamer was to 
leave on the morrow. 

The descent from the Folge Fond may be made on 
the Hardanger side, to Bondhuus, where the Bondhuus 
glacier has its outlet, about a thousand feet above sea 
level, and one may visit Rosendal, one of the most 
beautiful spots in the Hardanger Fjord. A fine val- 
ley runs up from the fjord, with a waterfall at the head 
of it. The baronial mansion of the Rosenkrone family 
is a small, stone building, erected in 1662. A stone 
church of early English architecture contains the burial 
vault of the barons of Rosenkrantz and Rosenkrone; 
the present owner, though their descendant, bears no 
title, since all titles were abolished in 1822. 

Herr Rosenkrone is said to own the finest private 
collection of pictures in Norway. 

Professor Forbes made the ascent of the Folge Fond 
after visiting the Eondhuusbrae, going to Ovrehuus, at 
the head of the Moranger Fjord. He speaks of the 
Buerbrae as u a small glacier," which it must have been 
at that time. 

Captain Biddulph, who visited the Folge Fond in 



336 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



1849, seems also to have made the ascent from this 
side. "The mountain rises abruptly from the fjord in 
irregular cliffs and buttresses to the height of 3,500 
feet. From the crests of these commences a sweep 
of snow, which extends in a beautiful curve fourteen 
miles across, and is scarcely less than forty miles in 
unbroken length. The effect of such a scene is mar- 
vellous. It is more impressive than the terrible rug- 
gedness of the wild peaks of the Horungerne." He 
estimates the moraine at the foot of the Bondhuusbrae 
to be 1,000 feet above sea level. The highest point of 
the snowy mass is given by Professor Forbes at 5,300 
feet, and the snow line at 4,120.* 

* The Folge Fond is called by Professor Forbes "the most important 
glacier-bearing fjeid in Norway"; though the glaciers from the Justedal 
Fjeld are larger than the Buerbrae and the Bondhuusbrae. The Nygaard 
glacier, with a course of less than four miles, having a breadth of over three 
thousand feet, and the Lodal glacier five and one-half miles in length, a 
breadth of 2,500 feet. This is called the largest glacier in Scandinavia. 
The next in size is the great glacier, between Bejern and Ranen, in the 
province of Nordland, not far from the Arctic Circle. 

From the Justedal's brae or fjeld descend, in all, twenty-four glaciers, 
most of them into the Sogne Fjord and its branches. This is the greatest 
mass of perpetual snow, not only in Norway, but in all Europe, with the 
exception of Iceland. Like the Folge Fond it covers the whole mountain 
range, sending down its frozen streams into the valley. The greatest height 
of the snow mass is six thousand five hundred feet. 

Out of the nearly six thousand square miles contained in Norway, one 
hundred and fifty are covered with glaciers. The different words in use 
describing glaciers have the following significance: Bra or Brae, a mass of 
perpetual ice. Sne-bra, or Fonn or Fond, any mass of snow, especially eter- 
nal snow. Jtfkul (more in use in Iceland), any glacier in the general mean- 
ing of the term. Vor or JOkul-vor, a moraine. 

I find nothing on the glaciers of Norway later than Professor Forbes's 
work, published in 185 1 ; but Nielsen tantalizes one with the mention of an 
exhaustive work on the Folge Fond, "Von dem Schnebra Folge Fonn," by 
Professor S. A. Saxe, published in Christiania in 1864, as " Universitats 
Programme," but not to be obtained in book shops. 



JOURNAL OF A VISIT TO THE FOLGE FOND. 337 



Bishop Pontoppidan speaks of a parish, " between 
Quendherret and Hardanger," which was overwhelmed 
by an avalanche "some time in 1500 or 1600, and never 
uncovered; but utensils of various kinds were brought 
to light by a rivulet, which runs under the snow." In 
another place he says, "Part of the mountain toward 
Quendherret, being frequented by fowlers and sports- 
men, is called "Fugle Fang," i. e., place for bird catch- 
ing. Peter Undalin says it is prohibited to cross this 
mountain, except from the Invention of the Cross 
(May 3) to St. Bartholomew's Day (Aug. 24). 

Quindherret, or Kvindhered, on the bishop's old 
map and Munch's modern one, is not far from Rosen- 
dal, on the Hardanger Fjord; and there seems no rea- 
son to question that the Folge Fond is the same snow 
mountain as the Fugle Fang, the name corrupted, in 
the lapse of years, after the fashion of old English inns, 
like the " Bell Savage," and the " Goat and Compasses," * 

July 26. 

I slept late, rising at 9.30, and took the steamer 
back to Eide, arriving about 5 P. M. I engaged a cart, 
with a small boy, to take me to Vossevangen, the boy 
insisting on going through, if he went at all. We made 
the double stage in a little over two hours, arriving at 
7.30; but I had to wait for my supper until ten o'clock, 
and was nearl" famished. 

July 27. 

Started about 9 A. M. in a cart, with a Norwegian 
from Bergen, a very pleasant and cultivated gentleman. 
He spoke English tolerably and German fluently, and 

* Originally " La Belle Sauvage," and " God encompasseth us." 
1 5 



333 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



proved a very agreeable companion. We took our 
horse only to Tvinde, and were obliged to walk from 
thence to Vinje, the next station, posting from thence 
to Stalheim and Gudvangen. 

I had a good supper and night's rest at Schultz's 
Hotel. When Herr Schultz heard my name, he asked 

if I were related to Mr. T , who had stopped there 

Saturday night. "That was a gentleman!" and he 
waxed eloquent in my brother's praise, who had offered 
to resign his room to a lady ! I fear such chivalrous 
behavior must be of infrequent occurrence in Norsk 
hotels. 

July 28. 

I took the steamer at 11 A. M., and went down the 
beautiful Naero Fjord into the Sogne, and thence in- 
to the Sognedal Fjord (nearly opposite), landing at 
Sognedal, at the head of this fjord, with two Dutch 
gentlemen, whose acquaintance I made on the steamer. 
They wished to go in the same general direction as 
myself; so we took a skydsboat across the fjord to a 
little place called Eide, where we walked about five 
miles across country to a point on the Sogne Fjord 
proper, a perfect little bower of bliss, called Amle. 
Here we stopped for a time at what seemed to be the 
posting master's house, where boats were to be had. 
The brothers from Holland decided to spend the night 
and take the steamer next morning, and I engaged a 
skydsboat to Laerdalsoren; but it was not ready for 
several hours. A charming young pige came out to 
feed her doves and chickens, and it was a pretty sight 
to see them flying all around her and eating from her 
hand. The people asked us if we wanted anything to 



JOURNAL OF A VISIT TO THE FOLGE FOND. 339 



eat, and one of the Dutchmen, acting as our spokes- 
man, replied, " I am thirstier than I am hungry," and 
accordingly they brought us some delicious beer. After 
what seemed an interminable time of waiting, the boat 
was at last ready, and I set out, with two rowers, for 
Laerdalsoren. The men made me a couch of hemlock 
boughs in the boat, and I reclined at my ease, listen- 
ing to the dipping of the oars and watching the shore, 
which we hugged, until opposite the bay which leads 
to Laerdal, when we crossed the fjord and made our 
way up to the village, which we reached a little after 
10 P. M., after three hours' rowing. I went to Bertel- 
sen's Hotel, finding there my bag (which I could quite 
as well have taken with me, except on the last five- 
miles' tramp), and a letter from K., telling me to call 
at Tune, and advising the route by the Spirillen. 

July 29. 

Posted to Skogstad, seven Norsk miles from Laer- 
dalsoren, which I reached about 9.30 P. M., having 
started at 7.30 A. M. I wanted to go on to Tune, the 
next station, about two Norsk miles farther, but could 
get no horse, so I was compelled to pass the night at 
Skogstad. The house was crowded, and I shared a 
room with two Germans. 

The landlord speaks English quite well, and is a 
very pleasant man; but I do not think highly of his 
accommodations. 

Tourists more frequently stop over night at Mari- 
stuen or Nystuen, on the summit of the Fille Fjeld. 

July 30. 

I went on in a cart, with a young Norwegian from 



340 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



Christiania, a very pleasant fellow who spoke English 
quite well. We kept together, in a cart or carioles, as 
far as Frydenlund, where he posted on to catch the 
morning steamer on the Randsfjord, and I spent the 
night, as it was quite late, and I was thoroughly tired 
out. I had gone a little out of my way to the Tune 
station, on the chance of finding the ladies, but was 
disappointed. I posted eight Norsk miles this day 
(over fifty-six English miles), and find carts and cari- 
oles decidedly more fatiguing than the trille. 

July 31. 

I turned off the main road to the right, following 
the Baegna River, through fine scenery, to Nasmoen, 
at the head of Lake Spirillen — a pretty sheet of water 
some two and a half Norsk miles in length. I was 
very sorry to find that the boat had been taken off, 
for the scenery must be far prettier from the water 
than from either shore. 

The little steamer Baegna usually runs from Sorum, 
on the river, near the head of the lake, back and forth 
every day, but had been taken off because the water 
was so low. There had been no rain in this region for 
nearly a month. I posted about half-way down the 
east side of the lake, through pine-woods, to a station 
where I found very poor accommodations. 

August i. 

I started at 7.30 A. M. and posted about seventeen 
English miles (a double stage) to the next station, 
Hallingsby, where I rested several hours, took dinner, 
and then went on with the same horse to Hone Fos. 
After waiting nearly an hour, I got a miserable horse 



/ 



JOURNAL OF A VISIT TO THE FOLGE FOND. 341 



and cariole, and with the greatest difficulty got through 
to Sundvolden, where I put up for the night. I shall 
never forget my delicious supper, of beefsteak and 
beer, after having had nothing fit to eat since my 
breakfast at Frydenlund, two days before. 

All through the Spirillen region nothing but Nors"; 
was spoken; and as I had not Bennett's "Phrase Book' 
with me, I had to fall back on my knowledge of the 
language. 

August 2. 

After a delightful night's rest, and an early break- 
fast, I started up the hill, Krog Kleven, to see the 
famous " Kongens Udsigt " (King's View), said to be 
the finest in the country, that is, I suppose, in this 
part of Norway — the Ringeriget. After following the 
road about a mile, I came to the guide's house, where 
I was furnished with a huge telescope and a " pige- 
forer," or maiden guide, a charming young girl, with a 
step as light as a fawn's and cheeks like roses. She 
led me close to the summit, where I could see people 
sitting, enjoying the view, and then returned for an- 
other job, after receiving a mark of approval for her 
services. Meanwhile I went forward, and proceeded 
to drink in the prospect. I seemed to be almost im- 
mediately over the plain, which, far and wide, with hill 
and dale, river and lake, hamlet and village, stretched 
itself out before me. It was a view of a quiet, peaceful 
country, not wild and grand like the wide prospects 
seen in the north and west of Norway, or from the 
summits of the fjelds. I was reminded, slightly, 
of the well-known view from Mts. Holyoke and 
Tom, in the valley of the Connecticut River, near 



342 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



Northampton, Massachusetts. I am not sure that 
this is any finer. 

Descending rapidly, I took a cariole and posted on, 
with wretched horses, to Humledal and Sandviken. 
At the latter station I got a fine spirited horse, and 
bowled into Christiania in fine style. 

The two days intervening before our departure for 
Stockholm I spent in sleeping, eating, and calling on 
T. Bennett, or making appointments for future inter- 
views. Fortunately, his "curiosity shop" is not far from 
the Victoria Hotel. We had difficulty enough in get- 
ting his ear, among crowds of customers and consum- 
ers, when making our arrangements for posting; but 
that was as nothing to the trouble involved in settling 
up. I feared we should be compelled to go off, owing 
him, in spite of ourselves; but after many vain attempts 
to secure his attention for five consecutive minutes, I 
at last succeeded in paying his bill and turned my back 
on his shop forever.* 

* In our final shopping at Christiania, for Norsk books, music and pho- 
tographs, we happened upon exquisitely prepared groups of natural flowers, 
with the brilliant coloring of paintings in water colors. The lady who pre- 
pares these keeps the process a secret. I believe some specimens of her work 
were sent to the Centennial Exhibition, at Philadelphia. 



XIX. 



A GLIMPSE OF SWEDEN. 

AFTER weeks of travel in Norway, on steamers or 
posting, with irregular hours for sleeping and 
eating, under the stimulus of almost constant day- 
light, there ensues a reaction, sooner or later, with 
most people (I do not wish to make an unguarded 
statement, and there may be exceptions), when one 
becomes indifferent to the claims, not only of mu- 
seums and picture galleries, but even of the finest 
scenery and greatest natural curiosities. Our Flor- 
ence friends had warned us of this, and advised spend- 
ing a week at some comfortable place, where we need 
do nothing but rest. They had done this at Thrond- 
hjem; but they had been to the North Cape, and turned 
night into day to a greater extent than we had done. 

This was one reason why we neglected the usual 
route to Stockholm — by which one visits Frederikshald, 
where Charles XII. met his fate, and then passes, by 
the Gotha Canal, through Lakes Wenern and Wettern, 
out into the Baltic, and back into the Malar Lake, 
through the most picturesque scenery in Sweden, in 
the space of three days — for the comparatively unin- 
teresting but far quicker route by rail, via Kongsvinger 
and Carlstadt. We were very tired of steamers. We 
had a feeling that nothing in the way of waterfalls and 



344 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



lake scenery, in Sweden, could equal what we had seen 
in Norway. Finally, it was probable that we should 
return, by that route, to Copenhagen; for the journey 
to Russia, in our state of fatigue and indifference, 
seemed too great an undertaking to be seriously 
thought of. 

The journey by rail from Christiania to Stockholm 
requires about seventeen hours, the express train leav- 
ing at 6 A. M. We adopted Mr. Bennett's suggestion, 
to break the journey by spending the night at Kongs- 
vinger, on the border, which we reached by a train 
leaving at 5 P. M. 

The railway follows the river Glommen, as far as 
Kongsvinger; and the country bears that resemblance 
to New England which we noticed in going to Eidsvold. 

We crossed the river at Fetsund, on a bridge four- 
teen hundred feet long, near the place where it flows 
into the Oieren Lake. Farther on, it is joined by our 
old friend the Laagen, under a new name, the Wormen, 
which it assumes after passing through the Mjosen 
Lake. (Norwegian rivers have a way of changing 
their names, after losing themselves in lakes, as if 
they had been married.) The Glommen is the largest 
and longest of the rivers in Norway, between three 
and four hundred miles in length. 

It would be a pretty excursion to follow it up, from 
Kongsvinger — there are roads on both sides of it — • 
through the pine forests and grand mountain scen- 
ery, as far as Roraas, famous for its copper mines, 
whence there is a good post road into Sweden, and 
one can follow down the Dal River to the Siljan Lake, 
in Dalarne, visit Falun, and thence, by rail, go to Gefle, 
Upsala and Stockholm. I do not know how long this 



A GLIMPSE OF SWEDEN. 



345 



would have taken us; perhaps a week or more. But it 
is well to have something left in reserve.* 

There was a large building, station-house and hotel 
combined, in process of erection at Kongsvinger; but 
we were informed that we should find our rooms in a 
house about a quarter of a mile distant. A stout pige 
seized our bags and trudged across the fields, and we 
followed, to learn that we could have beds and noth- 
ing more, and for our supper must return to the half- 
finished station. This must have been the secret source 
of merriment to our pige-porter, who giggled all the 
way. 

We saw nothing of the town, which used to be 
considered one of the keys of Norway and was oc- 
cupied by a garrison until 1823. 

Not long after leaving Kongsvinger, we passed the 
boundary between Norway and Sweden. (I do not 
remember the customs' examination, which is said to 
take place here; perhaps the luggage of "through pas- 
sengers" was not disturbed.) In many respects the 
united nations have less in common than Norway and 
Denmark, for so many years governed by the same sov- 
ereign and speaking the same language. Separated so 
long "by mutual fear and mountains," as Tacitus puts 
it; often warring with each other, and, at last unwill- 
ingly joined together by the arbitrary fiat of the Rus- 
sian emperor: (since when, and in what manner had 
Norway become his property, to be given in exchange 
for Finland ?) the married nations had little prospect 

* I must confess that friends who followed exactly this route, twenty 
years ago, complained of being nearly starved between R5raas and Falun. 
They were also unfortunate in having rainy weather, and their recollections 
of the journey are gloomy in the extreme. 
15* 



346 A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 

of a happy union. In just indignation at being thus 
disposed of, Norway had declared her independence; 
and at the national assembly at Eidsvold, on the nth 
of April, 1814, had adopted the constitution as it now 
exists. On the 17th of May, Prince Christian of Den- 
mark, then governor general, was elected king of Nor- 
way. But the invading army of the regent, Bernadotte, 
compelled submission, and the union was consummated. 
The new constitution was accepted, the first article 
providing that " Norway shall be a free State, inde- 
pendent, indivisible and inalienable, united to Sweden 
under the same king." 

The death of Charles XIII. left Bernadotte sover- 
eign of both kingdoms; but he was never popular in 
Norway, where he tried in vain to get a majority in his 
interest in the Storthing. His son, Oscar I., gave the 
Norwegians a separate national flag, which had been 
hitherto denied them, and decreed that in all acts and 
public documents relating to Norway he should be 
styled "king of Norway and Sweden," instead of 
"Sweden and Norway." He also created an order 
of merit for the Norwegians, that of St. Olaf, in 1847. 
An act passed by the Storthing in 1822 had abolished 
all titles of nobility in Norway, to cease with the death 
of those then bearing them; but no one objects to hav- 
ing the order of St. Olaf conferred upon those deserv- 
ing it, like Tidemand the artist, and Bjornson the pop- 
ular author. 

The two countries have separate tariffs and cur- 
rencies; but a movement is in progress to bring about 
a similar currency in Denmark, Sweden and Norway. 

We had started about 9 A. M., and rode until nearly 
HP. M., stopping at Carlstadt, on the Wenern Lake, 



A GLIMPSE OF SWEDEN. 



347 



twenty minutes for dinner. A long table was set, with 
soup, fish, beef and vegetables, and every one helped 
himself as he pleased. Stewed prunes and cream 
were by way of dessert, followed by excellent coffee. 
For this well-cooked and abundant meal we paid 
about half a dollar each. The speed was moderate 
for an "express train," not over twenty-five miles 
an hour, and I think we stopped at all the stations. 
Our compartment was provided with beds, or rather 
chairs capable of extension, which we found very 
comfortable. 

Having decided, upon Murray's recommendation, 
to patronize the Kung Carl Hotel, we telegraphed 
from Carlstadt for rooms and supper. We were taken 
a slight advantage of in consequence (people who re- 
gard economy rarely telegraph for rooms, on the con- 
tinent), and were ushered into a brilliantly-lighted 
salon, on the first floor, with two luxuriously furnished 
bedrooms adjoining. This was " three rooms and four 
beds," to be sure, but inconveniently arranged for the 
occupancy of a bachelor and three spinsters, to say 
nothing of the probable price of such a palatial apart- 
ment. We remonstrated, but w T ere told they could 
make no other arrangement for the night; we might 
have other rooms in the morning. Would they move 
one of the beds into the salon ? Not to be thought 
of. They consented, however, to carry it to the other 
bedroom. We had no fault to find with our supper — 
delicious salmon steaks, lamb chops and green peas, 
with strawberries and cream. 

The " Kung Carl " is the smallest of the three first- 
class hotels in Stockholm. It is situated on the corner 
of the Brunkeberg's torg (square), not far from the Cen- 



348 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



tral Railway terminus. A few steps farther, on the 
Gustav Adolf's torg, is Hotel Rydberg, which claims 
the reputation of being "the best-conducted hotel in 
Scandinavia." It has a hundred and fifty rooms. Still 
farther on, round the quay, and fronting the royal 
palace, is the large Grand Hotel, just finished, belong- 
ing to the same proprietor as the Rydberg, with four 
hundred rooms. All these hotels are well kept, and 
very handsomely furnished. There is an elevator at 
the Grand, the first ever introduced in Stockholm, and 
so great was the curiosity it excited, and the crowds 
of people who wished to try it, that a slight charge had 
to be made for its use. 

We started out, after a late breakfast, to find the 
banker, get our letters, and supply ourselves with 
Swedish money. Stockholm's Enskilda Bank was the 
place designated on our letter of credit, and we drew, 
in rix-dollars, what seemed an enormous sum for the 
expenses of less than a week; but it was really only a 
few pounds each. The rix-dollar is not the specie dol- 
lar, but the same as the krona, worth about a shilling 
and twopence English money, and a little more than 
the Norsk mark. This coin is divided into one hundred 
ore, copper coins about the value of an English farth- 
ing. You can get, in gold, pieces of ten and twenty 
kronor (like $2.50 and $5 gold pieces); in silver, pieces 
of four, two and one kronor (like dollars, half dollars 
and quarters), and fifty, twenty-five and ten ore pieces 
(about the size often, five and three cent pieces); and 
in copper, five, two and one ore pieces, worth about a 
cent, half a cent and a quarter of a cent. These last 
are like the pfennige in Germany, and the centimes of 
France and Italy. (I do not know what one can pur- 



A GLIMPSE OF SV/EDEN. 



349 



chase for so small a coin; but they are good to give to 
beggars, who seem glad to get them. They do not 
have to pay " American prices ! ") Beside this specie 
currency, bank notes are issued, from one krona to one 
thousand kronor in value, exchangeable for gold at par. 
It was a relief to the one who "had the bag" to sub- 
>titute these for the heavy weight of " smaa penge," in- 
dispensable hitherto. 

Our first drive in Stockholm was out through the 
northern suburb, " Norr Malm," to the palace of Ul- 
ricsdal. This royal residence belonged to Magnus de 
la Gardie, but Christina took a fancy to it, and Ebba 
Brahe wrote her son begging him to resign it to the 
queen. It was "Jacobsdal" until Prince Ulrik was 
born here, son of Charles XL, when the name was 
changed to Ulricsdal. This was the favorite resort of 
Gustavus III. and his queen, who died here in 1813, hav- 
ing survived her husband twenty-one years. Charles 
XV. also made this palace his favorite residence. It is 
a large, rather plain edifice, prettily situated on one of 
the arms of the lake, and approached through a pine 
forest; very secluded and almost gloomy in appearance. 
We got down from our carriage and wandered about 
the grounds, looking at the pretty chapel and the 
quaint little cottage, built in fac-simile of the one at 
Rankhyttan, in Dalarne, where Gustavus Wasa was 
sheltered from the Danes. When no members of the 
royal family are here, visitors are allowed to enter the 
palace. 

Passing the royal dairy and the Tivoli gardens, on 
the shore of Bmnsviken, and crossing a bridge at Al- 
kistan, we reach the " Fiskartorpet," an old wooden 
hut, built by Charles XI. as a fishing house, where he 



35° 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



used to spend a great deal of time, and cook his fish 
after he had caught them. 

Then we pass the Royal Djurgarden, a large park 
shut in by high fences, where deer are kept for the 
royal sport; drive over the parade ground, and cross 
the Djurgarden Brunn into the " Egentliga Djurgar- 
den," or deer garden proper, on another island. In 
driving around it we pass the royal cottage of Rosen- 
dal, built by Charles XV. in 1830, a pretty villa, occu- 
pied sometimes by the Queen Dowager Josephine, with 
fine gardens and hot-houses, and the large asylum for 
the deaf, dumb and blind, called Manilla. 

If time allowed, one would like to visit this institu- 
tion and compare it with those of similar character 
elsewhere. It has a fine building, beautifully situated, 
accommodating about a hundred inmates. At first 
founded by private liberality, it is now sustained by 
the Government, as are several smaller institutions in 
the city. Stockholm has many charitable institutions, 
mission schools, deaconesses, orphan asylums and hos- 
pitals, whose past history and present condition it 
would be pleasing to dwell upon; but we are in the 
Djurgarden this evening to see how the citizens amuse 
themselves. To quote Hans Andersen's description, it 
is " a large piece of ground, made into a garden by our 
Lord himself." Its natural advantages are great, and 
Art has worked in harmony with Nature. The park, 
occupying an entire island of many acres, is laid out in 
walks and drives of charming wildness and variety. 
Dear to the people of Stockholm must be the memory 
of Charles XIV., who made the Djurgarden what it 
now is. 

In the summer evenings it is a place of great resort, 



A GLIMPSE OF SWEDEN. 



35 1 



and the cafes and restaurants are rilled with people. 
Open-air concerts are given in a Turkish pavilion in 
the Hasselbacken gardens; near by is a circus build- 
ing, (occupied when we saw it by a circus and menag- 
erie troupe, which announced itself as connected with 
the " Great Barnum's Museum of New York ! ") a the- 
atre, open nightly during the summer; Tivoli gardens, 
with cheap amusements for the public; a pretty villa 
erected by the sculptor, Bystrom, now used as a mu- 
seum for his own works and those of other artists, and 
other attractions. 

Under a lofty oak is a bronze statue of the poet 
Bellman, as he used to sit in this very spot, playing 
and singing his own compositions, nearly a century 
ago. In another part of the park, near a cafe named 
from the poet " Bellmansro " (Bellman's rest), is a bust 
on a pedestal, erected on his anniversary, the 26th of 
July, 1829. 

This Swedish improvisatore, so dear to the hearts 
of his countrymen, whom some admirers style the 
Pindar, and others, more properly, the Anacreon of 
Sweden, lived from 1740 to 1795 "a joyous poet's life," 
free from care and trouble; since Gustavus III., by 
appointing him secretary of the lottery office, with 
a salary of $3,000, for half of which an under secre- 
tary managed the business of the office, (were they 
rix dollars?) left him free to cultivate his rare gifts 
without distraction. This unique descendant of the 
skalds, who sung no heroic deeds, but the praises of 
wine and of love, had a genius less akin to the frozen 
North that to the sunny South — 

"Where the sun with a golden mouth can blow 
Blue bubbles of grapes down a vineyard row." 



352 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



The charm of his poems evaporates in translation, 
nor can it always be discovered by a foreigner in the 
originals. But the man must have possessed a rare 
personal fascination, and we must believe that there 
is something truly national in his spirit, to find such 
an echo of delight in all Swedish hearts. 

Ernst Moritz Arndt who lived long in Sweden, and 
was a cordial admirer of Bellman, describes his man- 
ner of frequenting taverns and restaurants, not for 
personal dissipation, but to observe others. Taking 
his place in a corner, with a bottle of wine and a pipe, 
he watched the crowd and obtained originals for his 
poems. As he walked with his friends, they would 
suddenly miss him. If a violin was heard they had 
only to follow its sound and they would find him at 
some humble merrymaking, sitting apart from the 
throng and silently studying the joyously dancing 
people. 

"It was not intoxication," says Lenstrom, " which 
he sung as the height of felicity, but something else 
which developed itself, under the enjoyment of wine, 
under his eye; the life and rejoicing of the people, 
Swedish nature and manners." Lenstrom adds that 
many of Bellman's finest inspirations "died with the 
occasion which gave them birth, and the joyous ad- 
miration which attended them. The favorite of Na- 
ture, of the nation and of the king, he was fully satisfied 
with the enjoyment of his few desires. Moderate in 
all, except in enthusiasm, he went singing on his way 
towards his early death, not disturbed by any strain- 
ing after an unapproachable goal, and happy in not 
having outlived the noon of life and genius." 

A short time before his death he greeted his as- 



A GLIMPSE OF S WED EX. 



353 



sembled friends with a farewell improvisation, in order 
once more "to let them hear Bellman. He sung the 
whole night through, under the influence of an un- 
broken theme of inspiration — the joyous course of his 
existence, the praise of the good king, and gratitude 
to Providence which had cast his lot amid a noble peo- 
ple, and in the beautiful Northern land; and finally he 
took an eternal farewell of every one of the assembled 
company, in a different air and metre, expressing the 
individuality of the person addressed, and the relation 
of the poet to him. As the day broke, his friends, 
drowned in tears, implored him to cease, and to spare 
his health, already so severely affected, but he replied, 
Let us die as we have lived — in music ! drank off, for 
the last time, the fragrant, ethereal draught, and sang 
out the conclusion of his swan song. From that hour, 
he never sang again." 

When we drive to the "Mosebacke" (Moose' hil- 
lock), in the southern suburb of Stockholm, for the 
fine view of the city from the garden terraces, we must 
pass through the Bellman's gatan, and see the house 
where the poet was born, on the 4th of February, 1740. 

Not far from this place is the residence of a very 
different person, of far wider renown, the philosopher 
and seer — Emmanuel Swedenborg. Still standing in 
the garden is the little summer-house which was his 
favorite place of study. 

In this neighborhood is to be seen, on the "Capel- 
lans backen," the most ancient historical monument in 
Stockholm — a crumbling marble slab incased in iron, 
upon which is faintly visible a cross, and a Latin in- 
scription, which tells us that the slab is one of three 
erected by King Albrecht, in 1389, "as an atonement 



354 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



for the cruel murder of sixty innocently imprisoned 
Swedish burghers," by their German enemies, the 
Hanseatic merchants. 

Looking down from the Mosebacke, we can see 
how Stockholm is built on islands, at the point where 
opposite promontories shut off the Malar Lake from 
the fjords, running up from the Baltic. The city 
proper — on a small island, connected by bridges with 
the northern and southern suburbs, the latter also an 
island — is flanked by larger islands: the Kungsholm 
on the left and the Djurgarden on the right. Smaller 
islands between the Djurgarden and the city — the 
Skeppsholm and the Castelholm — are fortified and 
used as naval stations; and the Beckholm, still far- 
ther to the right, has a shipyard. 

But the small island to the left of the city, separa- 
ted from it only by a canal — the Riddarholm — is the 
place of greatest interest to the antiquary; for here 
are the remains of the round tower, built by Birger 
Jarl in the thirteenth century, when he fortified the 
island, and drove piles into the river, to prevent the 
ships of the vikings from entering the lake and ravag- 
ing the towns and villages on its shores. The former 
capital, Sigtuna, founded two thousand years ago by 
Odin himself, and possessing over ten thousand in- 
habitants, had been destroyed in 1188 by these East 
Baltic vikings, and its spoils carried off to Russia. 
From its ruins came the first settlers to the new city; 
and from the towns on the lake — whose ships were 
shut in by the obstructions which shut the vikings 
out — trade was transferred to Stock-holm, the city of 
the pile islands. Many Germans settled here, and it 
soon became the most important trading-place on 



A GLIMPSE OF SWEDEN. 



355 



the Baltic. Under Gustavus Wasa the city was im- 
proved and more strongly fortified. His castle stood 
on ground covered by the present palace; and near 
by is the oldest church in Stockholm — the Nicolai or 
Stor-kyrkan, built by Birger Jarl in 1264. I should 
rather say, was the oldest church; for its exterior 
has been entirely remodelled, in modern Italian style, 
though the interior is in old Gothic. The coronation 
of Swedish sovereigns, which used to take place at 
Upsala, has lately been celebrated in this church. 

Next to the Storkyrkan, in antiquity and interest, 
comes the Riddarholms Church, on the island of that 
name. It was built by Magnus, son of Birger Jarl; 
but fires and restorations, and the building of sepul- 
chral chapels around it, have altered the original plan, 
and left little of the old church. It is the Westminster 
Abbey of Stockholm, containing the dust of kings and 
heroes. The entire pavement is composed of grave- 
stones, mostly those of knights, of the different Swed- 
ish orders. 

To the right of the altar, in the Gustavian choir, 
built in 1633, is a sarcophagus of green marble, to 
which the remains of Gustavus Adolphus were re- 
moved, in 1832, by Charles XIV. On a marble slab 
in the choir is this inscription — 

"In angustiis intravit, 
Pietatem amavit, 
Hostes prostravit, 
Regnum dilatavit, 
Suecos exaltavit,. 
Oppressos liberavit, 
Moriens triumphavit." 

The sepulchral chapel of the present royal family, 



356 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



built in 1850, contains a sarcophagus of Swedish por- 
phyry, in which repose the remains of Charles XIV. 
(died in 1844), and in the vault below are those of his 
queen, Desideria (once sought in marriage, as Desiree 
Clary, by Napoleon Bonaparte, whose brother Joseph 
married her sister); his son and successor, Oscar I. 
(died in 1859), wi£h his sons, Gustavus and Augustus, 
his eldest son, Charles XV., and the queen and infant 
sons of the latter. The present king, Oscar II., is the 
brother of the late king, and grandson of Bernadotte. 

Nearest to the altar, on the left, is the Carolin 
Chapel, built in 1686, by Tessin (the architect of the 
palace), and containing the remains of Charles X. and 
his descendants, with their queens and families. The 
white marble sarcophagus of Charles XII. rests upon 
a green pedestal, and is covered with a lion's skin, in 
brass, surmounted by crown, sceptre, and sword. The 
blood-stained clothing in which he was killed at Fred- 
erikshald, formerly kept here, under glass, is now on 
exhibition at the museum. 

In the square, near the church, is a fine bronze 
statue of Birger Jarl, erected in 1854, after a model 
by Fogelberg. Clad in chain armor, and draped in 
classic tunic and mantle, the hero stands, leaning on 
the hilt of his mighty sword. I do not know if the face 
has any historical authority as a likeness, but (i Se non 
e vero, e ben trovato" It well represents the sturdy 
warrior, who was "strong and very courageous," and 
could "govern with steadfast hand"; but no vestige 
of tenderness is visible in these bronze features. This 
was the leader sent by King Erik to convert a tribe of 
Finns much given to idolatry, and abominably barbar- 
ous in their treatment of Christian inhabitants of Fin- 



A GLIMPSE OF SWEDEN. 



357 



iand. Ke returned in triumph, having put to death all 
who would not embrace Christianity. Stern, and at 
times unscrupulous, not only in his treatment of hea- 
then, but of Christian subjects, Birger was yet a good 
ruler, possessing, like St. Olaf of Norway, real nobility 
of character under a somewhat brutal exterior. He 
was the last of the giants. Till the Wasas came into 
power, there was not his peer in Sweden. He had 
married the sister of Erik III., and upon the king's 
death, without issue, expected to be elected sovereign 
by the assembly. He returned from an expedition in 
Finland, to find his eldest son, Waldemar, elected, but 
he was appointed regent during his son's minority. 

He governed for sixteen years with energy and wis- 
dom, revised the laws, repelled invasions and converted 
the heathen, and died on Oct. 21, 1266. However he 
had been blamed during his life, he was lamented after 
his death. " Old and young mourned for him," says 
the chronicler, "and the women of Sweden, whose 
right and peace he had taken under his guard, prayed 
for his soul." 

Waldemar, known as " The Beautiful," proved a 
weak prince, and, after ten years of trouble, he abdi- 
cated in favor of his brother Magnus, a wise and im- 
partial ruler, whose reign was short (he died in 129c , 
and whose sons were quarrelsome and cruel, and in- 
volved the nation in war. 

From this period until the accession of Gustavus 
Wasa, the history of Sweden is one of strife between 
brothers, or fathers and sons; of brutal murder and re- 
venge, of tyranny and usurpation, relieved by a few 
intervals when the Government fell into the hands of 
wise and moderate rulers, acting as regents or pro- 



358 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



tectors. Torkel Knutson was one of these, during the 
minority of Magnus's son Birger. One of his laws, 
afterwards known as King Birger's law, prohibited the 
selling of slaves, on the ground that it was unjust for 
Christians to sell each other. To him Sweden was in- 
debted for the thorough conquest of Finland, which 
remained a Swedish province until it was surrendered 
to Russia in 1809. 

Birger married a Danish princess, and his brother 
Erik married Ingeborg, daughter of Hakon V. of Nor- 
way. A third brother, Waldemar, conspired with Erik 
against King Birger, and took him captive. He was 
delivered by his brother-in-law, Erik of Denmark, and 
agreed to divide the kingdom with his brothers. Dur- 
ing this fraternal quarrel the kingdom was ravaged with 
fire and sword, and the aged regent, Knutson, falsely 
accused, was beheaded as a traitor at Stockholm. 

A few years later King Birger treacherously seized 
and murdered his brothers, leaving them to perish of 
starvation in prison. He fled to Denmark to escape the 
vengeance of his people, who revolted against him, and 
appointed a protector, Matthew Kettlemunson. His 
son was taken prisoner and put to death, and a na- 
tional assembly at Upsala assigned the crown to Mag- 
nus, son of Erik and Ingeborg, then a child of three 
years. Grief for the death of his son brought Birger to 
his grave. 

A popular ballad of the time ascribes the starvation 
of the brothers to the treachery of the steward of the 
castle of Nykoping, John Brunke, who expiated his 
crime on the sand hill at Stockholm, being broken on 
the wheel and beheaded; and the place is called to 
this day Brunkeberg. (Our hotel, " Kung Carl," here 



A GLIMPSE OF SWEDEN. 



359 



in the Norrmalm, is on the corner of Brunkeberg's 
.Torg.) 

The best thing we know of Magnus is a law passed 
during his reign (in 1335) abolishing slavery. Proba- 
bly that was due to the influence of Kettlemunson; as 
King Birger's law had been the work of Torkel Knut- 
son. During his regency Sweden enjoyed a breathing 
spell of nearly thirty years. 

In 1 3 19 Magnus succeeded his grandfather, Hakon 
V., as king of Norway. He had a grand opportunity 
to unite the two countries peaceably under one scep- 
tre; but when he lost his friend and adviser, Ket- 
tlemunson, he showed himself weak, treacherous and 
cruel. First, he attempted the conquest of Denmark, 
and obtained from the king the cession of several prov- 
inces. Not satisfied with this, he made an unprovoked 
attack upon Russia, but was signally defeated. To 
raise his armies he had taxed the people, mortgaged 
part of the Crown lands, and used the revenues of the 
Church. He was finally compelled by the people to 
resign the crown of Norway to his son Hakon, and 
that of Sweden to Erik; but he continued to carry on 
a civil war with the latter, until his death left Magnus 
in sole possession of Sweden. 

He had pledged himself to reform; but so far from 
seeking the interest of his country, he allowed King 
Waldemar of Denmark to ravage the islands of Goth- 
land and Oland without resistance; and the distressed 
Swedes finally applied to Hakon of Norway to save 
them from destruction. He came to their assistance, 
and Magnus was arrested, and confined to the castle 
of Calmar. The crown was offered to Albert of Meck- 
lenburg, who reigned until his armies were defeated by 



360 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



Margaret, Hakon's widow; and by the treaty of Cal- 
mar she became sovereign of the three kingdoms. 

Margaret was followed by Erik of Pomerania, a ca- 
pricious and unwise ruler. He made a pilgrimage to 
the Holy Land, sailing from Venice in the disguise of 
a servant to a merchant bound to Syria; but he was 
taken captive by the Turks, and a heavy ransom de- 
manded for his release. During his absence, his queen 
Philippa, daughter of Henry IV. of England, governed 
with mildness and wisdom. 

It would have been better for his wife and for his 
realm had Erik never returned, for he came back to 
such abuse of Philippa that she fled to a cloister and 
died; and to such oppression of his subjects that they 
revolted against him, led by the brave Engelbrecht. 

This Dalecarlian peasant, who had acquired wealth 
in the copper mines, and knowledge by travel and ob- 
servation, was an uncommon character for the time 
and the country; for the common people, while their 
sovereigns were occupied with brutal quarrels and 
bloody wars, were in a state of dense ignorance and 
great oppression. Heavily taxed in men and money 
to furnish the sinews of war, little could be done by 
them to develop agriculture or commerce. The mines 
furnished a source of wealth; but the ore was conveyed 
to Prussian ports to be forged into bars, for the Swedes 
were too ignorant to work it. 

The clergy were rather warriors than priests, keep- 
ing troops in their castles and leading them in battle. 
Many of them were illiterate men of scandalous lives. * 

* Some of the clergy of West-Gothland were subjected to fines, for their 
disgraceful ignorance. One of these when asked, " Quid est Evangelium ? " 
replied, "Est Baptismus," and another declared we had nothing to do with 
the Old Testament, because it was lost in Noah's flood. 



A GLIMPSE OF SWEDEN. 



361 



After twice visiting Copenhagen to obtain redress 
from King Erik, Engelbrecht raised an army; the 
strongholds of Sweden were taken by the insurgents, 
and finally the burghers of Stockholm opened their 
gates to the troops, and he laid siege to the citadel, 
occupied by a Danish garrison. He had been ap- 
pointed general-in-chief and regent by the people; 
but the nobles elected another leader, Charles Knut- 
son, one of their own order, and it was arranged that 
he should conduct the siege in Stockholm, while En- 
gelbrecht marched to reduce other fortresses, which 
still held out for the king. He did this successfully, 
but perished by assassination while returning to Stock- 
holm. 

Knutson protected the assassin from popular ven- 
geance, and became himself distrusted; at length it was 
agreed to submit the difficult question of the succession 
to a number of deputies from the Hanse republics, who 
were met at Calmar by others from the three kingdoms. 
Erik appeared and solemnly promised to govern the 
Swedes according to law, and they accepted him again 
as their sovereign. Would this have happened if En- 
gelbrecht had not died, or was he fortunate in escaping 
by death such bitter humiliation ? 

There is little in Stockholm which recalls these old 
days except the ruins of Birger Jarl's tower, and the 
foundations of the churches we have seen; nothing but 
the crumbling monument on the Capellan's backan 
takes us beyond the times of the Wasas; and there are 
few remains of the city of Gustavus. Only the two 
bronze lions which guard the entrance to the palace as 
they guarded the old fortress of the " Tre Kronor," so 
often besieged and defended and so seldom taken, 
16 



362 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



frown upon us as they frowned at him three hundred 
years ago. " Wars, conflagrations and civilization have 
entirely remodelled the city," to quote a phrase from 
our little illustrated guide; curiously suggestive of some 
allegorical painting which should represent civilization 
following in the wake of her stern collaborators. How 
often she must wait till their work is done before she 
can enter in and remodel ! Nearly all the great cities 
of the Old World have undergone this experience, and 
the wooden-built cities of the North retain little of an- 
tiquity. 

From the Norrmalm, where our hotel is situated, 
we pass to the city, over the Norrbro, a fine bridge of 
granite, which crosses a small island, the Helgeand- 
holm. On one side is a row of shops; on the other, 
below the granite railing, is the Stromparterren, a 
pretty garden and restaurant, something like the 
Bruhl Terrasse in Dresden. As we cross the bridge 
the imposing structure of the Royal Palace rises be- 
fore us. 

This was commenced in 1698 by Charles XII. from 
designs by the French architect, Nicodemus Tessin 
(who also built the Norr bro, and the Carolin chapel 
in Riddarholm's Church), but it was not sufficiently 
finished to be habitable before 1753. It is a square 
block, enclosing a courtyard. The central block, 
three stories in height, crowned by a massive cor- 
nice, rises ninety-five feet, from the platform to the 
top of the balustrade; the facade is extended by wings 
one story in height to the length of seven hundred feet. 
The approach is by an inclined plane in two direc- 
tions, called the Lejon Backen (Hill of Lions), from 
the two large bronze lions which guard the entrance, 



A GLIMPSE OF SWEDEN. 



363 



and which were removed from the old castle of Gus- 
tavus Wasa. 

The northeastern facade, fronting the water, is less 
imposing; but the wings enclose a garden, upon which 
the royal apartments look out; and the entrance, by a 
double granite staircase, is reserved exclusively for royal 
"use. Although so plain, the palace is pleasing and im- 
pressive from the simplicity and grandeur of the design. 
It is pronounced by Ferguson "a marvellous instance 
of architectural purity and good taste." 

Ascending the zigzag incline, and passing through 
the vaulted entrance to the courtyard, we are con- 
ducted first to the other side, where, on the east, a 
marble staircase leads us to the lofty throne room, 
adorned with colossal statues of Gustavus Adolphus 
and Charles XIV., by Bystrom, and allegorical figures 
by other artists, and where upon festive occasions the 
silver throne of Queen Christina is displayed. Return- 
ing to the portico, we ascend a similar staircase on the 
west side, to the royal chapel, with a painted ceiling 
and altar-piece by Swedish artists. 

In the western portico we find the staircase leading 
to the royal apartments. These are richly and taste- 
fully furnished, the Victoria hall containing many cost- 
ly objects, presents from other sovereigns; two large 
tables of Roman mosaic representing scenes and build- 
ings in Rome, presented by Nicholas of Russia to 
Charles XIV.; the largest mirror in Sweden, a wed- 
ding present from Napoleon III. to Charles XV.; an 
antique Moorish clock, with movable figures, and most 
interesting of all, three beautiful cabinets which be- 
longed to Marie Antoinette. Returning to the en- 
trance, we find on the opposite side of the vestibule the 



3^4 



A SCANDINAVIAN- SUMMER. 



chapter rooms of the different Swedish royal orders. 
The hall of the Wasa Order is decorated in green and 
gold, that of the Order of the North Star in red and 
black, the hall of the Order of the Sword in blue and 
gold, and of the Order of Seraphim in white and gold. 

Ascending to another story by the grand staircase, 
we notice on the wall medallion portraits of the an- 
cient kings, among whom we find Birger Jarl, who was 
the founder of the old castle or fortress of the "Ker- 
nel," or " Three Crowns," afterwards enlarged by the 
Stures and Wasas, and upon the foundations of which 
a part of this palace is built. On this floor are the 
state apartments, most sumptuously furnished and 
hung with Gobelin tapestry of great value. Time 
would fail me to describe these saloons. The con- 
cert room, the audience room, the grand gallery, the 
Red Saloon, with tapestry representing Don Quixote's 
adventures ; the Green Saloon, with painted ceiling 
representing the four winds and the four elements, 
and the White Saloon, or great ball-room — all in gold 
and white, and lighted with large crystal chande- 
liers and candelabra. 

Through smaller rooms and the Blue and Red cabi- 
nets, with portraits of the Wasas, we enter the bed- 
room of Charles XIV., which is preserved exactly in 
the condition in which it was when he breathed his 
last, on the 8th of March, 1844. The clock on the 
mantelpiece was stopped at the moment of his death. 

On the bed lies an old blue overcoat which he wore 
during the campaigns of 18 13-14, and which for thirty 
years afterward was his constant companion as a cov- 
erlet. The walls are hung with family portraits and 
sketches of the battles in which he took part, as Mar- 



A GLIMPSE OF SWEDEN. 



365 



shal Bernadotte. The writing table and other tables 
are covered with books, maps, papers, and trinkets of 
various kinds; and a collection of walking sticks is in- 
teresting to all who have a propensity to accumulate 
similar objects. The royal guest rooms, on the same 
floor, are hung with fine tapestry and paintings. 

We return to the courtyard and ascend the grand 
staircase on the other side, to visit the queen's apart- 
ments, which are charmingly fitted up, hung with fine 
paintings — two original Raphaels among them — and 
ornamented with delightful bric-a-brac of every de- 
scription. The Porcelain Cabinet contains a set of 
porcelain furniture, bought by Gustavus III. in Dresden. 

We were much interested in the portraits and me- 
mentos of the Bonaparte family, and especially of the 
Empress Josephine, in the rooms of the Queen Dow- 
ager Josephine, widow of Oscar I. and mother of the 
late Charles XV. and the reigning king, Oscar II. She 
was daughter of Eugene Beauharnais, duke of Leucht- 
enberg, grand-daughter of Josephine, and cousin to 
Louis Napoleon. From the walls of her apartment 
Napoleon III. and his lovely empress smile upon all 
beholders, as they smiled in Paris before the battle of 
Metz and the destruction of the Tuileries. We look at 
these portraits with Dr. E.'s story of the flight of the 
empress, told us on the deck of the Lofoten, fresh in 
mind, and remark that while the Napoleons are de- 
throned, descendants of Josephine are still reigning. 

The royal library, containing over one hundred 
thousand volumes and ten thousand manuscripts, oc- 
cupied the entire northeastern wing of the palace; but 
as the books were being packed for removal to the 
new library building, in the Humlegarden, visitors 



3 66 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



were not admitted. Among the curious manuscripts 
is the famous Codex Aureus, written in Gothic char- 
acters of gold, upon a groundwork of white and lilac 
parchment, considerably over a thousand years old. 
A Saxon inscription records that it belonged to the 
monks of Canterbury; but it is supposed to be of Ital- 
ian origin, and carried off by vikings from Milan, as 
annotations dated Milan, A. D. 840, speak of it as an- 
cient even then. How it found its way to Madrid, 
where it was bought by an agent of Charles XL (sent 
on a voyage of discovery after vestiges of the ancient 
Goths in Africa), and by him presented to the royal 
library in Stockholm, I cannot ascertain. Another 
codex, copied on the skins of three hundred asses, was 
carried off by the Swedes during the Thirty Years' 
War, from a Benedictine convent in Prague. The 
monks had worked on it from the ninth to the thir- 
teenth century. 

A Latin Bible, printed in Leyden in 1 52 1 , has nu- 
merous comments in the writing of Martin Luther. 
The oldest printed book in the library is a copy of 
" Cicero de Officiis," printed from movable types by 
Faust and Schoeffer, in 1461. 

An excursion to the Drottningholm Palace, thirty- 
five minutes by steamer across the lake, or an hour's 
drive through a pine forest, would be worth while if 
the royal family were not in residence. Among other 
interesting collections, the picture gallery contains por- 
traits of all the sovereigns of Europe contemporary 
with Oscar I. Still more interesting is the old castle 
of Gripsholm (a three hours' excursion by steamer), 
founded by Bo Jonsson Grip in 13 16 upon the site of 
a much older edifice; rebuilt in 1537 - by Gustavus 



A GLIMPSE OF SWEDEN. 



3 6 7 



Wasa, and again altered and enlarged by Gustavus III. 
in the last century. In the gallery of portraits, eigh- 
teen hundred in number, are represented all the Wasa 
sovereigns and their relations; among them are portraits 
of Gustavus Wasa and Erik XIV., painted by the unfor- 
tunate Erik, who was imprisoned in the oldest tower of 
the castle. The insane monarch spent three years in 
this prison, one of seven in which his nine years of 
confinement were passed, until his death by poison 
at Orebyhus. 

Traces of his footsteps are pointed out on the brick 
floor of his cell. He had talent for music as well as 
painting, excelling both as a performer and composer. 
He translated into Swedish the Latin History of Jo- 
annes Magnus, wrote a treatise on the art of war^and 
composed two penitential psalms, which may be read 
in the Swedish Psalter. 

Clearly unfit to govern as he was, slaughtering his 
best friends and involving the nation in cruel wars, 
Sweden owed kinder treatment to the son of Gustavus 
Wasa than such prisons as his brother gave him — 
where he suffered from ''hunger, cold, stench and 
darkness," wanting the common necessaries of life, 
and often cruelly beaten and insulted by his keepers 
— and the cup of poison at the end. This was the 
Prince Erik who sent ambassadors to negotiate a mar- 
riage with Queen Elizabeth, then fell in love with 
Mary Queen of Scots, and sent fresh ambassadors, 
but transferred his affections to the princess of Lor- 
raine, daughter of Christian II., and finally married a 
Finnish maiden, Karin Mansdotter, who was faithful to 
him through all his misfortunes. One of his poems is 
a tribute to her worth. 



XX. 



UPSALA, AND THE MUSEUM. 

TI7E spent Monday in an excursion to Upsala, 
* * g°i n g by boat and returning - by train. 

Our way led through the Malar Lake, which stretch- 
es up into the country, seeming more like a fjord than 
a lake, with its inlets and islands; but the shores were 
flat, and the scenery tame, compared with the grand 
fjords of Norway. 

Going northward, through a narrow branch of the 
lake, we come, about midway in our journey, to Sig- 
tuna, the former capital of Sweden. Sigge Fridulfson, 
the historic Odin, was its founder, and built a temple 
here; but the capital was removed to Upsala by his 
descendants, long before Birger Jarl founded Stock- 
holm. Sigtuna is now a little village, of five hun- 
dred inhabitants, and interesting only for its ruined 
churches and convents. 

Soon after, we see rising, in stately grandeur, the 
"four square walls and four square towers" of Sko 
Kloster. Upon nearer view, the towers prove to be 
octagonal, and their domelike caps are finished with 
pepper pots — a style of architecture we find frequent 
occasion to deplore. In its present form the castle 
was built by Count Gustaf Wrangel in the seventeenth 



UP SAL A, AND THE MUSEUM. 



369 



century, and came by marriage into the possession of 
the Brahe family; but in the middle ages a large 
monastery stood here, and from the earliest records 
the place is mentioned as a fortified castle, the resi- 
dence of the pagan kings. The monastery was founded 
by St. Bridget's father, " Birger Pehrson, lagman in 
Upland, a pious man and godly," in the latter part of 
the thirteenth century; but two hundred years later it 
suffered greatly by fire, and instead of rebuilding it, 
King John Wasa took away stone to build his castle 
in Stockholm. 

Sko Kloster is brimful of antiquities and curiosities; 
a portrait gallery second only to that of Gripsholm, 
kings and queens, Wasas, Brahes, Wrangels and oth- 
ers; antique furniture, tapestry, armor and weapons, 
and a valuable library, with rare manuscripts. Heart- 
rending, to leave such treasures unvisited ! 

But we were bound for Upsala, and had little time 
enough, as the voyage had taken longer than we reck- 
oned. Soon we entered the Fyris River, scarcely 
wider than a canal, and went under bridges, and 
through narrow places hardly broad enough for our 
boat to pass; the waves, raised by our motion, washing 
away the reeds and tall grasses on the low banks. 
The boat was very small — smaller than the little Nor- 
way steamers — and very crowded, the seats very hard, 
and the sun very hot; and the seven hours of our voy- 
age seemed long ones. They said we were slower than 
usual, because the river was so low. 

We could have made the journey in two hours by 
train; and we regretted the loss of time when we found 
that the university library, which we particularly wished 
to see, was open only in the morning. We could see 
16* 



37° 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



the cathedral; but by this time (4 P. M.) we were in a 
famishing condition, and our first business was to find 
a hotel and get something to eat. We were directed 
to the Stadshotellet, a curious old building, with an 
archway extending through and rooms opening on 
each side; and our hunger appeased, we started for 
the cathedral, under the guidance of a small boy with 
a perfect extinguisher of a hat. He found the sexton, 
who unlocked the door and escorted us over the ven- 
erable pile. It is almost as old as the Throndhjem 
Cathedral, but less picturesque; presenting a mixture 
of styles, which gives an unpleasant impression. The 
side view is simple, old Gothic, but the western en- 
trance is defaced by two square towers with cornices 
and turrets capped with little domes, like the Sko pep- 
per pots, rising above them. These take the place of 
the three towers with spires four hundred feet high, 
which were destroyed by lightning in 1702. A large 
platform in front, ascended by a flight of steps, gives a 
worthy approach, and the cathedral occupies a fine po- 
sition. It is said to occupy the site of a heathen tem- 
ple, but the hill on which it stands has been, these 
many years, " Mons Domini." 

When was it built and by whom ? In 1287, Sept. 8, 
the contract for the building of Upsala Domkyrka was 
signed by Estien de Bonneuil, architect of Notre Dame 
de Paris, who came to Sweden with ten master build- 
ers and ten apprentices skilled in stone cutting. The 
plan is similar to that of Notre Dame and the dimen- 
sions are nearly the same. The exterior is, of course, 
far less elaborate, but the plan may not have been car- 
ried out. This cathedral was two hundred years in 
building, begun during the reign of good King Mag- 



UPS A LA, AND THE MUSEUM. 



37* 



nus Ladulas,* carried on with more or less difficulty 
through the stormy times which followed, and finished 
in 1435, the year when Engelbrecht revolted against 
the tyrant, Erik of -Pomerania, and roused the Dalecar- 
lians to dethrone him. 

The interior is simple and impressive. Behind the 
altar, in the Lady Chapel, is the tomb of Gustavus 
Wasa, where the effigy of the monarch reposes between 
those of his first and second wives — Catherine and Mar- 
garet — and four obelisks guard the corners of their 
marble couch. Irreverent suggestions of four-post bed- 
steads are unavoidable. The third wife, Queen Cath- 
arine Stenbock, sleeps in the same vault. On the 
walls of the chapel are frescoes painted by Sandberg, 
a Swedish artist, representing events in the life of Gus- 
tavus. Here he is, before the town council, in Liibeck, 
requesting aid against the Danes. Again, in disguise 
as a peasant, and also addressing the peasants at Da- 
larne. The battle between the Dalecarlians and the 

* Magnus Ladidas (barn-locker), so called from the justice of his laws, 
and their strict administration — "An honorable title," says Olaf Peterson, 
"for there be found not many in the world who can be styled barn- 
lock; barn-breaker has ever been more common" — was surpassed by no 
Swedish king in bounty to the Church, whence he is sometimes called the 
Holy King Magnus. He founded five monasteries, and had vowed a cru- 
sade to the Holy Land, which he did not live to accomplish. He had pre- 
pared himself a tomb in the Franciscan monastery at Stockholm; but his 
dying wish that "his memory might not die away with the sounds of the 
bells over his grave" is fulfilled to-day, rather from his virtues as "barn- 
locker," than from his devotion to holy Church. He alone, of Birger Jarl's 
sons and descendants, was worthy of his father. 

The first royal burial which took place in Upsala Cathedral is said to 
have been that of the eldest son of Magnus, a boy of fifteen, in 1279 (in the 
church which preceded this cathedral, if the dates are right, that church hav- 
ing been possibly built by Birger Jarl in 1260, but probably of earlier date). 
Was the thought of the cathedral the result of this young lad's death ? 



372 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



Danes follows; then the triumphal entry of Gustavus 
into Stockholm; the presentation of the first Swedish 
translation of the Bible to Gustavus and his address 
from the throne to his last parliament. 

Beneath this painting, in golden letters on a blue 
ground, are the words of the aged king, when he felt 
the approach of death, and thus bade farewell to his 
people: 

" If I have done any good, give God the honor; what 
I have failed in, from human weakness and error, over- 
look and forgive it for Christ's sake. Many have called 
me a hard king; yet a time will come when Sweden's 
children would gladly pluck me out of the earth if they 
could." 

To the left of the Gustavian chapel is the one oc- 
cupied by the monuments of the Brahe family; next, 
that of the Sture family; the large chapel beyond con- 
tains a fine statue in armor of King John, son of Gus- 
tavus Wasa, and one of his queen, Katerina Jagellon- 
ica; on, the opposite side of the choir are the family 
chapels of the Oxenstjernas and other noble families. 
A row of sepulchral chapels occupies each side of the 
nave. Here, in the chapel of the Baner family, we saw 
the monument to Carolus Linnaeus, the celebrated bot- 
anist: a mural tablet of porphyry, with a bronze me- 
dallion portrait by the sculptor Sergei. 

Under the altar, in a shrine of silver, repose the 
bones of Saint Erik, the patron saint of Sweden, slain 
in battle at Upsala, in 1161. 

Standing in front of the pulpit, and looking up, you 
see in the arched roof a hand with two outstretched 
fingers (the traditional mode of blessing); in this place 
many kings have been crowned. 



UPSALA, AND THE MUSEUM. 



373 



The sexton took us into the treasury, and showed 
us the sacramental vessels, of gold and silver, and a 
crown and sceptre, belonging to one of the old kings, 
found in his coffin. Thence up a flight of stairs he led 
us to a little room, where were stored in cupboards a 
quantity of curious old vestments, in some of which he 
arrayed himself, parading in the robes and mitre of an 
archbishop, to the great edification of certain small 
children who had followed in our train. We saw the 
hair shirt of St. Bridget, and her velvet girdle and 
purse, embroidered with pearls; and here were relics, 
not only of saints, but of a martyr: the blood-stained 
garments of Niels Sture, who was murdered by the in- 
sane king, Erik XIV., in the old castle of Upsala. 

This castle, built by Gustavus Wasa in 1548, but 
destroyed by fire in 1702, retains little of its former 
splendor. It is now the residence of the governor of 
Upsala. It is finely situated, with the buildings of the 
university, on a hill overlooking the town. The uni- 
versity, founded in 1477 by the Regent Sten Sture, had, 
a hundred years ago, over two thousand students; in 
1800, only five hundred; but now about twelve hun- 
dred. There are sixty professors, in all departments 
of learning, and many distinguished men have filled 
the chairs. The most prominent building is the library, 
the "Carolina Rediviva," containing two hundred thou- 
sand volumes and seven thousand manuscripts. Among 
the latter is the famous Codex Argenteus — the trans- 
lation of the Gospels into the Gothic language by 
Bishop Ulphilas, more than fourteen hundred years 
old, which fills one hundred and eighty-eight folios, 
and is executed in silver letters upon red parchment; 
most curious and costly of codices, a thing to visit 



374 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



Sweden for; but, cruel fate ! the library is open only 
in the morning. (We should have spent the night in 
Upsala, but our passage was engaged for St. Peters- 
burg on the steamer leaving at midnight of Tuesday, 
and we had still the museum in Stockholm to visit.) 

The Codex Argenteus was not "found" in so dis- 
creditable a manner as the manuscripts from Prague in 
the Royal Library. It belonged originally to an ab- 
bey in Westphalia; though how it came there no one 
knows. Thence it went to Cologne, and afterwards to 
Prague, where it was taken by Koningsmark, in the 
capture of the city. It went with Vossius to Amster- 
dam; and upon his death, in 1669, it was purchased by 
the Swedish chancellor, De la Gardie, who presented 
it to the University of Upsala. This copy was proba- 
bly made by Ostro-Gothic scribes, in Italy, about the 
end of the fifth century, and is the oldest monument 
of the Teutonic language, which was first committed 
to writing by Bishop Ulphilas. 

The professors in the university hold their positions 
for life; even the king cannot remove them. There is 
great difficulty in getting rid of an incompetent or un- 
suitable person, if, by chance or favoritism, such a one 
should be appointed. Only by being tried and con- 
victed upon some criminal charge can one be deprived 
of his professorship. Living here all their lives among 
their books, with no interest in politics, unable even to 
vote for any candidate outside the university, they 
must contract curious habits, and become quite fossil- 
ized. The most singular instance of this was the old 
theological professor, Odmann, who, having been com- 
pelled to keep his bed by a fever, found himself so 
comfortable that he could not be persuaded to get up 



\ 



UPS A LA, AND THE MUSEUM. 



375 



again. The students came to him with their essays, 
and, as he had a horror of taking cold, the manuscripts 
were warmed at the fire before he read them. The 
windows of his room were never opened; and here, in 
the impure air, he lay reading and writing, his only 
companion a deaf and dumb daughter, until he was 
seventy. His only illness during the whole period was 
caused by a chill taken in a singular manner. A Dale- 
carlian peasant one winter's day entered the house by 
mistake, his skin cloak covered with snow and his beard 
full of ice, and not understanding the old man's horri- 
fied shouting, came quite close to his bed. The old 
professor's portrait was painted, lying in bed, in his 
shirt; and Hans Andersen, who tells the story, saw it 
in the Assembly Rooms, formerly the orange garden 
of Linnaeus. Near by, in his old botanical garden, 
stands the house of Linnaeus — a simple wooden build- 
ing. We passed it in driving out to Old Upsala, but 
had not time to enter. In the new Botanical Gardens, 
back of the castle, is a statue of Linnaeus, by Bystrom, 
the sculptor. He stands under a little temple, holding 
a book in one hand and in the other a specimen of his 
favorite flower — the Linncea borealis. Both this monu- 
ment and the tablet in the cathedral were erected from 
the offerings of friends and disciples, King Gustavus 
III. adding his contribution to the fund. 

An object of interest near Upsala is the " Mora 
Steen," or stone on the moor, about seven English 
miles from the town. A building erected by Gustavus 
III. preserves these relics of remote antiquity. In 1782 
Mr. Coxe found ten stones remaining, the largest only 
six spans long; but the ancient inscriptions were scarce- 
ly to be deciphered. Olaus Magnus describes the mon- 



376 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



ument as consisting of one huge round stone sur- 
rounded by twelve smaller ones, elevated a little from 
the ground. The national Thing was held here, and 
the sovereign elected was mounted upon the central 
stone, to receive the acclamations of the people. Was 
it a place for heathen sacrifices, older than any temple ? 
Something like Stonehenge, perhaps, — if any one knows 
what that was made for. Or was it prepared merely 
for the council chamber of Odin and his twelve godards, 
— the big stone in the middle and the twelve smaller 
ones round it ? 

(I consider this a brilliant suggestion; and so far as 
I am aware, it is entirely original.) 

Saxo says, "In old times when a king was chosen 
he stood or sat upon a heavy stone, a sign and surety 
that his intentions were firm and enduring." Is the 
"Stone of Scone" a remnant of Norsk usages in 
Scotland ? 

Olaus Magnus and his brother Joannes were both 
bishops of Upsala. According to their history of the 
Gothic and Swedish kings (published in Rome in 1554), 
Japhet himself settled in the north, within a hundred 
years after the flood, and the early kings of Sweden 
were descended from his son Magog. 

Sigge built Sigtuna, Ubbo Upsala, not long after 
the confusion of tongues at Babel. A king Erik was 
contemporary with the great-grandfather of Abraham ! 

Olaus Rudbeck, professor of divinity at Upsala- 
about 1675, followed suit to the bishops, and in his 
curious work, the "Atlantica" (so called because he 
identified Sweden with the Atlantis of Plato), he claims 
that the Swedish nation was planted by a colony under 
Askenaz, grandson of Japhet. 



1 



UPS ALA, AND THE MUSEUM. 



Ill 



But these traditions are rivalled by the belief of the 
peasants to this very day. Mr. Marryat saw an old 
church in Falsterbo, partly imbedded in sand, ''built," 
said the woman who brought the keys, "before the 
world was drowned; and here Noah and his family 
returned thanks after the deluge, and baptized Skeff 
the Englishman, a fourth son, born in the ark." 

Saxo Grammaticus, in his "History of Denmark," 
fixes the origin of the Danish monarchy about B. C. 
iooo, in an illustrious warrior called Dan. Later his- 
torians place this Dan A. D. 250. 

Torfaeus (Thermod Torfeson), born in Iceland in 
1636, and died about 171 5, was employed by Fred- 
erick III. and Christian V. to translate the old sagas, 
and from these sources he compiled his works on the 
Danish kings, the Orcades, Greenland and Norway. 
He proved that no reliance could be placed upon the 
legends followed by his predecessors, and that only 
the latter part of Saxo's work is worthy of credit. 

Professor Geijer of Upsala, in his " Chronicles of 
Sweden," regards all dynasties previous to Odin as 
fabulous — a simple cutting of this Gordian knot which 
is convenient if not scientific. He places the migra- 
tion of Odin in the last century B. C. and contends 
that the fact of its having been unknown to the Ro- 
mans is not sufficient to disprove its credibility. 

While we entertain these reminiscences, we pursue 
the road to Gamle Upsala, which crosses the fields for 
two miles, in close proximity to the railway. Here are 
three large burial mounds, rising sixty feet or more 
from the level plain; they are called the graves of 
Thor, Odin and Freia. From the top of these mounds 
hundreds of smaller ones can be seen; this was a great 



378 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



cemetery, surrounding the ancient temple. For the 
little low church, built of granite blocks, is said to be 
older than the period of Christianity in the North, and 
to have been part of a heathen temple; perhaps the 
one described by Olaus Magnus, which "was built so 
magnificently that there was nothing to be seen on 
the walls, roof or pillars, but shined with gold, also 
the whole upper part was made of glittering gold. 
Hence it was that the temple, situate on a large 
plain, by the admirable lustre of it begat in those 
that came near to it a venerable fire of religion. 
There grew before the doors of it a huge tree, of an 
unknown kind, that spread with large boughs, and 
was green both summer and winter." 

Large trees still shade the ancient church, which 
in the evening twilight had a sort of sacred gloom. 
It was consecrated in 1026 by King Olaf, the Swede; 
but plundered and burned sixty years later, when only 
the stone walls were left standing. King Sverker re- 
stored it, about 1 1 39> an d dedicated it to St. Laurence. 

It is thought that many of these mounds are of nat- 
ural formation, though the larger ones may have been 
increased by art. All the same, most of them may 
have been used as burial mounds. 

The largest mound was opened- about thirty years 
ago; and for a time its interior was visited by tourists. 
Hans Andersen describes such a visit, in his "Pictures 
of Travel in Sweden." In 1874 this mound was again 
cut through for the benefit of the Ethnographical 
Society, then assembled at Upsala. Fragments of 
a skeleton and some little ornaments were found, 
which, with similar objects previously discovered here, 
may be seen in the museum at Stockholm. Snorre, in 



UPS A LA, AND THE MUSEUM. 



379 



the " Ynglinga Saga," tells us that this temple was 
built by Freyr, the son of Odin, who removed the cap- 
ital from his father's city, Sigtuna, making Upsala his 
chief seat, and "gave it all his taxes, his land and 
goods. Then began the Upsala domains, which have 
remained ever since." These were certain estates for 
the support of the sovereign, and of the temple and 
rites of worship, which remained with the Crown after 
the introduction of Christianity. 

Over all Sweden the people had "paid Odin a scatt, 
or tax, so much on each head; but he had to defend 
the country from disturbance, and pay the expense of 
the sacrifice feasts." 

Among the mythical kings, between Freyr and the 
Danish accession, after the exile of Olaf Tretelia, whose 
reigns cover a period of seven hundred years, the most 
striking are Dag the Wise, who understood the lan- 
guage of birds, and had "a sparrow which flew to dif- 
ferent countries, and told him much news," and the 
horrible " Aun hinn Gamle," ("the old one,") who 
prolonged his hideous life by the sacrifice of one son 
after another, at periods of varying length, until only 
the youngest of ten remained, and the people rose in 
protest, declaring that they must have one heir to the 
throne. So "the old one" himself had to succumb at 
last. Is this legend a slander on the old king, whose 
life seemed unnaturally prolonged, while one after an- 
other of his strong young sons perished, until the su- 
perstitious people believed the horrible story of their 
sacrifice to the gods ? 

Upsala has been a battle-field time and again. St. 
Erik was slain here, resisting a rebellion of his sub- 
jects, in 1161. An earlier Erik, father of Olaf Skot- 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



konung, was really a martyr to his Christian zeal, for 
he perished in a popular tumult occasioned by his de- 
struction of a heathen temple with its idols and images. 
During the reign of this king or his predecessor, Erik 
Segersall (the victorious), appears the first Icelandic 
skald mentioned in the annals of Sweden — Thorvald 
Hjalteson. " After the king's victory at Fyrisvall over 
Styrbjorn, he ascended the hill of Upsala [this great 
mound] and demanded if there were no one present 
who could sing the victory for a reward from his own 
hand. Thorvald, though he never achieved such a 
thing before or after, did it so successfully that the 
king presented him with a gold ring." 

A man of one song, this Thorvald, like Sordello ! 
Did he sit down, contented with his laurels, I wonder, 
or was he always tormented with the feeling that more 
was expected of him ? Most of the old skalds had a 
gift of song, wonderfully fluent, irrepressible, so to 
speak. But they were less cordially entertained at the 
Swedish court than in Norway and Denmark. The 
last one we hear of in Sweden is Sturle Thordson, 
Snorre's nephew, who wrote the " Knytlinga Saga" or 
chronicle of the Danish kings. 

Perhaps it is because they had no skalds to write 
their sagas, but the Swedish kings seem to us far less 
interesting than the Norsk or Danish. There are no 
such picturesque figures as the Haralds and Olafs, or 
even the Sigurds and Hakons of a later period. Olaf 
Skotkonung (lap king, or tax king, either or both, vide 
Geijer), contemporary of St. Olaf, was a mean fellow 
in comparison. Baptized by Sigfrid, the English apos- 
tle, he has the credit of introducing Christianity into 
Sweden; but it prevailed only in the southern part, 



UPSALA, AND THE MUSEUM. 



381 



although he built this little church in Gamle Upsala. 
He had joined Knut in his first expedition to England, 
in which St. Olaf also took part. 

Later they are enemies, Norsk Olaf winning back 
Jemteland and other border provinces, and driving the 
Swedes out of Norway.* He sends envoys to solicit 
peace, and ask the eldest daughter of Swedish Olaf in 
marriage. The envoys seek the aid of Ragvvald, earl 
of the West Goths; for it is well known that " Olaf the 
lap king would never hear Olaf the Norseman spoken 
of." Ragwald leads them to his foster father, Thorgny, 
the wisest man in Sweden, ''an old man, whose like 
for tallness they had never seen, with beard lying on 
his knees," as he sits on the high seat in the great hall. 
He goes with them to the great folk-mote at Upsala. 
Snorre Sturleson gives us the scene: Olaf sitting on 
one side, with his court around him; Ragwald and 
Thorgny over against him with their men-at-arms and 
followers; the common people about; "some on the 
barrows," [these mounds all around us, or was it near 
the Mora stone?] "to see and hear how all befell." 
Olaf's own affairs are first discussed; then one of the 
Norwegian envoys begins his business, but is quenched 
in a summary manner by King Olaf, who " sprang from 

* Perhaps their enmity dated from one of St. Olaf's forays, in his viking 
days, described by Snorre Sturleson. " He went up to Sigtun, and Swedish 
Olaf laid chains across the Stokkesund (channel between the Malar Lake and 
the sea), so Olaf could not get out again; for there was a castle west of the 
sound, and men-at-arms lay on the south. Olaf dug a canal across the flat 
land Agrafet, out to sea, and heavy rain fell, and the water from the lake 
rushed into it, and Olaf had all sail hoisted on his ships, and a strong breeze 
blew astern, and they steered with their oars (for the rudders were unshipped), 
and the ships came in a rush over all the shallows, and got into the sea with- 
out any damages." 



3 3 2 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



his seat in wrath and broke off the speech." Ragwald 
attempts to speak; but meets with no better treat- 
ment. " Thereupon was deep silence for a time. At 
last Thorgny rose, and with him rose all the peasants, 
and there was a great din of arms and tumult in the 
crowd." Audience is granted and the old man speaks. 
He goes back to the experience of his grandsire, who 
was near King Erik Edmundson; of his father, the 
friend of King Bjorn; to his own, with King Erik the 
Victorious — brave men all, and wise rulers, but never 
so haughty as this King Olaf, "who will let none speak 
with him, and will hear naught but what is pleasing to 
himself." He lets his proper lands slip from him, and 
yet will rule over Norway, a thing that no Swedish 
king before him has coveted, " for which many must 
live in unpeace. Wherefore we peasants will that thou, 
King Olaf, shouldest make up thy quarrel with Nor- 
way's king, and give him thy daughter Ingegerda in 
marriage. If thou wilt win back those lands in the 
East, which belonged to thy kinsmen and parents, we 
will attend thee thither; but if thou heed not our words, 
we will set upon and slay thee, and will not suffer law- 
lessness and trouble at thy hands." 

A great clashing of arms arose again, and Olaf rose 
up and granted their prayer. But he hated St. Olaf 
worse than ever, as was natural, and broke his promise, 
giving Ingegerda to Yaroslaf of Russia instead; and 
the people would have risen against him had not his 
daughter, Astrida, married St. Olaf in spite of her 
father. 

We drove back to Upsala in time for the train to 
Stockholm, where we arrived about II P. M., again in 
a famishing condition and ready for the hot supper 



UPS ALA,. AND THE MUSEUM. 



which awaited us, and the delicious strawberries and 
cream — pure, unsweetened, frozen cream — which is one 
of the specialties here. 

The traveller whose time is not so limited as ours 
may do better than to make an excursion to Upsala, 
by taking it on the way to Gefle and Falun, or Sala 
and Falun, as either route passes through an attractive 
region. By the former, one can visit the iron mines of 
Dannemora and the iron and steel works at Asterby, 
and the falls of the Dal Elf at Elfkarleby; by the lat- 
ter, the silver mines at Sala, which have been worked 
for five hundred years. Falun is interesting for the 
copper mines — the richest in Sweden — which have 
been worked for two thousand years, according to 
antiquarians, thought to have been discovered by the 
Finns (the old historians, Olaus Magnus and the rest, 
will have it that King Ubbo sent copper to Solomon 
for the vessels of the temple, and received gold in re- 
turn for the temple of Upsala); and also for its histor- 
ical associations with the patriot Engelbrecht, who 
lived at the foot of the " Koppar berget." Read Hans 
Andersen's chapter on the lake of Siljan, for the old 
memories that cluster around this region, the haunts 
of Gustavus Wasa, when he wandered like an outlaw 
through the forest, seeking shelter in a peasant's hut 
like King Alfred, or in the branches of a tree like King 
Charles. Go to Dalecarlia, if you can, and see the 
gathering of the peasants at Leksand, on Midsummer 
Eve, as they come in boat-loads over the lake, in their 
bright costumes. 

Perhaps the farmer's wife will take you into the 
cloth -room, where the family wardrobe is stored. 
Sometimes this is an isolated wooden house, built 



3§4 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



upon high poles or piles of stone, to keep out ants 
and other animals. Here you will see an incredible 
number of garments — women's skirts, aprons and bod- 
ices, men's coats, vests and breeches, linen garments, 
stockings, and shoes "so clumsy, ingenious and hump- 
backed, that it seemed a real invention to make such 
a pair." 

"The prayer-books are placed in a row on the 
flower-painted shelf; the wall itself, if you can see 
it for clothes, is also painted. There, for instance, 
you will see the prophet Elias hovering, in his fiery 
chariot, drawn by sun-horses, which in the painting 
very much resemble hogs; also Jacob in his wrestle 
with the angel. The angel is clad in dress coat, 
leather breeches and cavalry boots. On the windows 
are painted scriptural sentences and names; tulips and 
roses are blooming here which you have never seen in 
nature." 

There was a wedding one evening while Andersen 
was in Falun, and a throng outside waiting for a view 
of the bride and bridegroom, who were called out 
for inspection. "Peasant girls with candles in their 
hands stood on each side; it was a perfect tableau; the 
bride with downcast eyes, the bridegroom smiling, and 
the young bridemaids each with a laughing face. And 
the people shouted, 'Now turn yourselves a little! now 
the back ! now the face ! the bridegroom quite round, 
the bride a little nearer ! ' And the bridal pair turned 
and turned — nor was criticism wanting. In this in- 
stance it was to their praise and honor; but that is not 
always the case." 

Even in Stockholm this custom was observed among 
the lower classes until a few years ago. 



UPS ALA, AND THE MUSEUM. 



385 



Very quaint is the description of a peasant's wed- 
ding at Arsta, in the life of Miss Bremer, by her sister. 
The brides came to the manor-house to be dressed, and 
their hair was put in long plaits and curl-papers over 
night — the back hair in eighteen plaits, the front cut 
short and curled — so that on the morrow it stood out 
straight all round the head, and the back hair was a 
waving mass of ringlets. Not much sleep could the 
poor bride enjoy that night, but " il fant sonffrir pour 
etre belle!" This mass of hair was adorned with tinsel 
flowers and jewellery and the high silver-gilt bridal 
crown. On one side stood up three long ostrich feath- 
ers, red, white and blue. The bridal robe was of black 
silk, trimmed round the bottom with a broad gilt band; 
the sleeves and neck trimmed with black lace, a large 
bouquet of natural flowers in front, gold chains around 
the neck, and a broad gilt band around the waist. To 
this girdle were attached the bridegroom's presents — ■ 
silk and cotton kerchiefs, gloves, etc., so that the body 
looked like an itinerant clothes shop, while the head 
looked as if it belonged to a queen of the middle ages. 
In her left hand the bride held a psalm book and a 
great white handkerchief, like a towel. The bride- 
maids were dressed in white muslin, with bouquets of 
artificial flowers and tinsel; the bridegroom and his 
men were also adorned with artificial flowers. 

Nearly all the brides in the village came to the 
great house to be thus adorned for their husbands, 
and the weddings took place in the large hall, to the 
great edification of the little Bremers. One bride had 
a remarkably sunburnt complexion. "I don't know 
what can be the reason I am so red in the face. Sure 
am I that I have done everything to get white. Every 
17 



386 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



time I was washing linen at home I scrubbed myself 
with soap lye, and then laid myself down beside the 
linen on the bleaching-ground in the sunshine; and I 
have done it many times besides, but it has been of 
no use." 

At Falun occurred the touching incident, related 
in a German ballad by Trinius, and illustrated by 
Ehrhardt, in our favorite " Balladen-Buch." At the 
bottom of an old shaft, re-opened in 1719, was found 
the body of a young miner, so fresh and unchanged 
that he might have fallen that very day. No one 
knew him, until an old, old woman came forward and 
threw herself on the ground beside him. It was her 
bridegroom, who had disappeared fifty years before. 

In another mine, in 1635, was found a corpse, per- 
fectly fresh, and with the appearance of one asleep; 
but his dress, and some ancient copper coins found 
on his person, proved that he perished two hundred 
years before. 

Could similar occurrences, in earlier ages, have given 
rise to the legends of people who were carried off by 
the dwarfs or the fairies ? 

We were a little comforted for not going to Dale- 
carlia by seeing something of Dalecarlia in Stock- 
holm. A sort of Swedish Mme. Tussaud's, under the 
imposing title of the " Scandinavian Ethnographic 
Museum," was advertised in our guide-book as com- 
prising "a manifold gathering of various objects from 
the different territories of Sweden, very artistically 
arranged in groups and classes, so that the visitor, 
at a glance, can perceive the home life of the peas- 
antry, their costumes and manners, their dwellings, 
provocation of employment, household utensils, fur- 



UPS ALA, AXD THE MUSEUM. 



387 



niture, apparel, outfit, etc., mostly from the last cen- 
tury, but also from the commencement of the pres- 
ent. Of the different cabinets we will mention — 

" Xo. 1. An interior from Ingelstad (Skane) repre- 
sents a wedding scene, 'the groom fetching his bride 
for to tie the nuptial knot " at the parish church. 

"No. 2. An interior from Halland, 'the old folks, 
reposing after their meal on Saturday afternoon, read- 
ing a just-received letter from their absent son.' 

"No. 3. An interior from Vingaker (Sudermania), 
'the suitor bringing presents to his betrothed.' 

" Xos. 4 and 5. 4 Indoors and Outdoors,' from Dels- 
bo (Northern Sweden). 

" No. 6. Sceneries from Lapland. 

"Neat Dalecarlian peasant girls, in their picturesque 
costumes, are in attendance." 

Allured by this attractive programme, we visited 
No. 71, Drottninggatan, paid our entrance fees of fifty 
ore each (about fifteen cents), and prepared to be 
deluded, as we had been at Mme. Tussaud's. The 
quaint furniture and costumes were charming; but 
the stiff figures of wood or wax were not especially 
lifelike. The "Lapland sceneries" were better. One 
group represented not only the tent, with the women 
cooking, and the baby in the curious, hanging cradle, 
shaped like a shoe, but a Lapp on snowshoes, and 
another in his sledge, drawn by a reindeer. A great 
black dog was lying in the middle of the group, asleep 
on the snow; of course stuffed, we supposed; but when 
Will whistled, he opened his eyes, got up and shook 
himself, and we almost expected to see the reindeer 
start off, and to hear the baby cry. 

We had been surprised at finding in Stockholm so 



3 8S 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



beautiful a palace, with such sumptuous appointments 
and interesting works of art; we were yet more sur- 
prised and pleased upon visiting the museum. 

This fine edifice — begun in 1849 and completed in 
1863, at an expense of over half a million of dollars — 
fronts on the quay, opposite the palace. It is in the 
Venetian Renaissance style, with a portico of arches, 
adorned with statues and medallions of Swedish artists 
and men of science — Ehrenstrahl, Fogelberg, Sergei, 
Linnaeus, Tegner, Berzelius and others. On entering 
the vestibule the eye is attracted by three gigantic 
statues in marble, the work of the sculptor Fogelberg; 
Odin and Thor guard each side of the grand stairway, 
and Freia smiles from the landing. 

On the ground floor are collections of implements 
in stone, bronze and iron, representing the different 
periods; and one of mediaeval objects, mostly from 
churches and cloisters; embroidered robes and altar 
cloths, censers, monstrances and other religious ves- 
sels in copper, iron, silver and gold, relics of the Cath- 
olic Church in Sweden. The large central hall is filled 
with statues and sculptured altars from old churches, 
baptismal fonts, and old gravestones, some with Runic 
inscriptions. A huge carving in wood of "St. George 
and the Dragon," brought here from the Stor Kyrkan, 
was executed by order of Sten Sture the elder in 1489. 
In an. adjoining room are some historical relics, includ- 
ing the cradle of Charles XII., his baby chair, his grand- 
mother's easy chair, and the wooden bench upon which 
he slept, the last night of his life. Here are complete 
sets of all the royal orders, and articles of jewellery worn 
by kings and regents, the mandolin of the poet Bell- 
man, and chemical utensils used by Berzelius. 



UPS A LA, AND THE MUSEUM. 



389 



The antique coins found in tumuli are so numerous 
as to be fairly innumerable, measured by the bushel; 
every finder in Sweden being obliged to hand over his 
treasure trove to the guardians of the museum, by whom 
he is paid an equivalent in cash. A collection of me- 
dallions in gold, silver and bronze, from 1500 to 1875, 
is contained in glass cases, but there is not room to 
exhibit the coins. Professors who keep the run of 
them are in attendance upon Tuesdays and Fridays, 
and will show any coins inquired for. A set of coppers 
is spread out on a table, the largest of which weighs 
forty-two pounds, avoirdupois, dated 1644. Nice little 
small change to carry about in one's pocket ! But 
when Charles IX. sent his ambassador to Holstein 
to court the Duchess Christina (mother of Gustavus 
Adolphus), he was out of silver money and fitted him out 
for the journey with such copper "klippingar" as these. 

Ascending the stairway, we find in the rooms to 
the left a fine collection of engravings and drawings 
by famous masters, like the coins, too numerous for ex- 
hibition (seventy thousand in all), but kept in port- 
folios, and readily shown to visitors upon special days. 
The gallery of sculpture, in six rooms, contains stat- 
uary, in bronzes and marble, of all ages and various 
nations; the most valuable and beautiful being the 
"Endymion," discovered in 1783, at Hadrian's villa, 
near Tivoli, and purchased by Gustavus III. Here 
are the masterpieces of Swedish sculptors: Sergei's 
"Faun" and "Cupid and Psyche," Fogelberg's "Ap- 
ollo," Bystrom's "Juno with the Infant Hercules," "A 
Neapolitan Fisher Boy," by Quarnstrom, and a "Bac- 
chante," by Molin. 

The ethnographical collection is interesting, con- 



39° 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



taining old armor and weapons, war-standards, drums 
and ammunition, and figures arrayed in the suits of 
armor worn by Gustavus Wasa, Gustavus Adolphus, 
the Charleses, and other sovereigns and generals. 
One room contains foreign weapons and war cos- 
tumes, mostly Asiatic. 

The Majolica Room — so named from the famous 
set of Majolica porcelain, decorated with copies from 
Raphael, — contains also a valuable antique enamelled 
set presented by Charles XV., and specimens of pot- 
tery of different nations, Moorish, Egyptian and North 
American. 

The next floor is occupied by the gallery of paint- 
ings, with the exception of one room, called the Re- 
galia Room, in which is kept the coronation robes of 
the Swedish kings, since Gustavus Wasa. This is the 
cloth-room of the Dalecarlian farmer on a royal scale. 
The walls are hung with costly rugs, and in cases 
hang the splendid coronation robes, heavy with gold 
and silver embroidery, pearls and jewels; and other 
more familiar garments, with historical associations. 
Here are the blood-stained coats and shirts and the 
top-boots worn by Gustavus Adolphus at the battle 
of Lutzen, and Charles XII. at Friedrichshald, and the 
suit worn by Gustavus III. when he was shot at the 
masquerade, in the Royal Opera House in 1792. Here 
is the horse ridden by Gustavus Adolphus on the field 
of Lutzen; not his own, which had been shot under 
him early in the fight, but a common cavalry horse 
belonging to a wounded dragoon, which, after the 
king's death, cantered off and entered his line in his 
regiment, giving fatal intelligence to the Swedes of 
their leader's fall. 



UPS A LA, AND THE MUSEUM. 



39 1 



We turn to more pleasing objects, and admire the 
beautiful coronation robe of the present Queen Sophia, 
glittering with golden crowns, and her wedding dress 
of satin, embroidered with silver, gorgeous to behold. 

In the picture gallery we find a few paintings by 
Italian, Spanish and early German masters, quite a 
large collection by Flemish and Dutch masters, a few 
of the French school, and a large and interesting col- 
lection by modern Swedish artists, increased within a 
few years by the private collection of the late King 
Charles XV., bequeathed to the museum by the royal 
artist. One of his paintings, a portrait of his father, 
King Oscar I., appears in this collection. It comprises 
landscapes in Italy, Switzerland and the Tyrol; repre- 
sentations of Swedish and Norwegian scenery and peas- 
ant life; historical and classical subjects, and scenes 
from Scandinavian mythology. We particularly en- 
joyed a picture by Wertmuller of Queen Marie Antoi- 
nette and her children, in the park at Trianon, which 
was presented to Gustavus III. by the queen herself, 
and declared by Mme. Campan, in her memoirs, to 
be "the best portrait ever taken." There were some 
pretty genre pictures by lady artists — Agnes Borjeson 
and Amalia Lindegren — and lovely woodland scenery 
by Holm and others. 

On the north side of the building, in the central 
hall surrounding the grand staircase, stands a group 
in bronze, by Molin, said to be the finest piece of 
statuary in . Sweden. It represents the old custom 
of the "beltespraetting" or girdle-duel, which pre- 
vailed until the middle of the seventeenth century, 
and later still, in savage parts of the country. The 
combatants drove their knives into a thick plank, and 



392 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



bound the handle and all of the blade remaining 1 out 
with leather thongs. Then they were fastened to- 
gether by their belts and with these knives fought it 
out until one or both were mortally wounded. So 
prevalent was this savage custom, that when families 
were invited to weddings the wife would take along 
her husband's shroud, knowing that battles were sure 
to occur, and rarely without a fatal result. 

Around the pedestal of the group are bass-reliefs 
giving the story of the quarrel, a not unusual story 
the world over. Two men are drinking at a table, a 
fair maiden filling their antique drinking horns. In 
the next panel, ominously surrounded by twining ser- 
pents, one of the men embraces the reluctant maiden, 
while the other starts up angrily, drawing his knife. 
In the third scene they are threatening each other, 
while she clings to the most furious and vainly tries 
to disarm him. In the last scene she kneels weeping 
before a rude monument, on which is a representation 
of the battle. 

Between the panels are Runic inscriptions; extracts 
perhaps, from the Gunlauga Saga, which this work of 
art illustrates.* 

Speaking of Runic inscriptions, there is an unusu- 
ally good collection, not only of stones, but also of 
sticks and staves, in this museum. They have noth- 
ing to say to us, who know not their language; per- 
haps they would not tell us very much of importance, 
if we understood it. Most of these stones contain bur- 

* This Saga relates the story of a duel fought in Iceland, between Rafn 
the Skald, and "Gunnlang with the serpent's tongue " for the hand of the 
fair-haired Helga. Both were slain, and their death (1013), caused the abo- 
lition of duels in Iceland. 



UPS ALA, AND THE MUSEUM. 



393 



ial inscriptions — " Fastrid raised stones in memory 
of Gardar and Gutrigur, her sons, of whom the latter 
died in Greece." Thurva mourns her man, " Halftan 
of the great shield," who perished in distant seas, with 
all his ships. "Fulco and Asgamma raised these stones 
to themselves, while both were yet alive." Not an 
uncommon thing, to provide one's own tombstone, in 
those days. And in a tasteful "Ormsling"of twining 
serpents, "Igeruna, daughter of Hardi, had these let- 
ters sculptured to herself, when about to travel to the 
far East, and gain Jorsala." 

The antiquity of Runic inscriptions can seldom be 
accurately determined. Sometimes they are of pagan 
origin, as one in the island of Funen, where the words, 
"May Thor bless these Runes," are added; and, on 
another side of the stone the malediction, "Accursed 
be he who moves this stone, or takes it to another 
place"; a superstition not infrequently met with in the 
North, as well as at Stratford-on-Avon. 

The Runic alphabet, of sixteen characters, has a 
look of similarity to the Gothic, the Anglo-Saxon, 
and even the old Greek and Etruscan. (I wonder if 
anybody has remarked its likeness to the characters 
on the Moabite stone!) It is of the angular form 
natural t6 inscriptions on stone or wood, its most 
frequent use. Some antiquaries have suggested that 
the earliest books known in Scandinavia were written 
in this alphabet, upon tablets of beech-wood ("buch- 
stav," whence our "book," and "stave," in its poeti- 
cal sense; as well as the German " buch-stabe ") ; but 
I doubt if anything has been discovered to establish 
this theory. The oldest parchment in Runic charac- 
ters is a Scanian code of the fourteenth century, in 
17* 



J 

394 



A SCANDINAVIAN SUMMER. 



the royal library. All the ancient sagas and chron- 
icles have been handed down in the Roman alphabet; 
either transcribed from earlier manuscripts, or recorded 
from verbal traditions. 

Runic letters are found on some of the most ancient 
stone weapons, and on the golden horns and ornaments 
discovered in Danish tumuli. After the introduction of 
Christianity, when the priests encouraged the peasants 
to build roads and bridges, as works of merit, such in- 
scriptions as these were recorded: "Hurfast made this 
road and built this bridge, in memory of his father, 
Gama, that God may have mercy on his soul." " Jarla- 
banke raised these stones to his own memory, when 
still alive, and built this bridge to save his soul." 

They were long used by the peasants, in calendars, 
and still survive in the Bo-Marken in use on the island 
of Gotland, to identify boats, fishing-nets, farming im- 
plements and all sorts of furniture. 

With these glimpses of the earlier days we say 
good-by to Scandinavia, the land of our ancestors. 
For these Northmen were our ancestors, as well as 
the Angles and the Saxons; and not their laws and 
customs only, but their strength of muscle and of will, 
their intrepid courage and obstinate love of freedom, 
have had their share in moulding England's Hearts of 
Oak and America's dauntless pioneers. Let us drink 
"Skaal to the Northland," as we sail away from its 
shores, to finish our summer in Russia. 



PUBLICATIONS OF G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS. 



CONSTANTINOPLE. By Edmundo de Amicis, author of "A Journey 
through Holland," "Spain and the Spaniards," &c. Translated by 
Caroline Tilton. With introduction by Prof. Vincenzo Botta. 
Octavo, cloth. 

A trustworthy and exceptionally vivid description of the city which, in the present 
reopening of the Eastern question, is attracting more attention than any other in the 
world. De Amicis is one of the strongest and most brilliant of the present generation of 
Italian writers, and this latest work from his pen, as well from the picturesqueness of its 
descriptions as for its skilful analysis of the traits and characteristics of the medley of 
races represented in the Turkish capital, possesses an exceptional interest and value. 

THE GREEKS OF TO-DAY. By Hon. Charles K. Tuckerman, 
late Minister Resident of the U. S. at Athens. Third Edition. i2mo, 
cloth, . . . . $1.50 

This work attracted special attention at the time of its publication, in 1872, as giving 
a trustworthy and interesting picture of life in Greece, and of the character and status of 
the modern Greek. At this time, when public attention is so generally directed towards 
the scheme of practically re-establishing a Greek empire and Greek supremacy in the 
East, it is thought that a new edition will prove of interest and service. 

" The information contained in the volume is ample and various, and it cannot fail 
to hold a high rank among the authorities on modern Greece." — N. Y. Tribune. 

"No one can read this book without having his interest greatly increased in this 
brave, brilliant, and in every way remarkable people." — N. Y. Times. 

"We know of no book which so combines freshness and fullness of information." — 
N. Y. Nation. 

ENGLAND ; POLITICAL AND SOCIAL. By Auguste Laugel. 
Translated by J. M. Hart. i2mo, cloth, .... $1.50 

"It is written with a tone of confidence and force of expression which captivate." 
^Btiffalo Commercial. 

"Affords a clear, distinct, and comprehensive view of the political institutions of 
England." — N. Y. Nation. 

" Here, in every sense, is a charming book. * * * * So full of thought, that, 
like the best of Macaulay's Essays, it will bear reading more than once. * * * * 
We havs rarely met with more picture-like descriptions of what seems to have dwelt most 
upon his mind — English landscape scenery and rural life." — N. Y. World. 

THE SILVER COUNTRY; or, THE GREAT SOUTHWEST. 

A Review of the Mineral and other Wealth, with the attractions and 
material development of the former kingdom of New Spain, comprising 
Mexico and the territory ceded by Mexico to the United States in 1848 
and 1S53. By Alexander D. Anderson. Svo, cloth, with Hypso- 
metric Map, . $1.75 

"Just at the present moment everything which affords reliable information on the 
question of silver, its uses and production, is of almost paramount interest." — Washington- 
National Republican. 

"A very useful book for those who wish to study the silver question in its funda- 
mental feature."— Chicago Journ.xl. 

" The book will unquestionably become the authority on the subject ol which it 
treats." — St. Louis Republican. 



RECENT BOOKS OF TRAVEL 



A Lady's Life in the Rocky Mountains. By Isabella 

Bird, author of " Six Months in the Sandwich Islands," 
"A Ride of 700 Miles Through Japan." Second edition, 
octavo, illustrated, $1 75. 

" Of the bold dragoons who have recently figured in military life, bewitch- 
ing the world with feats of noble horsemanship, the fair Amazon who ides 
like a Centaur over the roughest passes of the Rocky Mountains will cer- 
tainly bear away the palm. — New York Tribune. 

The Great Fur Land ; or Sketches of Life in the 
Hudson's Bay Territory. By H. M. Robinson. Second 
edition, octavo, illustrated, $1 75. 

" Mr. Robinson's narrative exhibits a freshness and glow of delineation 
founded on a certain novelty of adventure which commands the attention of 
the reader, and makes his story as attractive as a romance." — New York 
Tribune. 

The Round Trip, by way of Panama, through California, 
Oregon, Nevada, Utah, Idaho, and Colorado, with notes on 
Railroads, Commerce, Agriculture, Mining, Scenery, and 
People. By John Codman. i2mo, cloth, $1 50. 

" No work on California has given a larger amount of useful information 
than Captain Codman's, and none has equaled his in raciness and general 
readableness. * * * " — Literary World. 

Roman Days. By Viktor Rydberg, authcr of ' The 
Last Athenian.' Translated from the Swedish by A. C. Clark, 
with a Biographical Sketch of the Author, by Dr. H. A. W. 
Lindehn. 8vo, cloth extra, with twelve plates, $2 00. 

" The whole work bears the mark of individual and original thought and 
research, and is fresh and rich accordingly, and full of new and interesting 
information. ' ' — Chicago Tj ibune. 

Studies of Paris. By Edmondo de Amicis, author of 
"Constantinople," "Morocco," " Holland," etc. 
i6mo, cloth, $1 25. 

<4 A marvel of intense, rapid, graphic and poetic description, by one of 
the most brilliant of modern Italian authors. The chapters on Hugo ind 
Sola show the same power of description and analysis in dealing with mind 
?iid character." — Christian Register 



G» P. Putnam's Sons, 



New York. 



PUBLICATIONS OF G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS. 



BY THE AUTHOR OF "A LADY'S LIFE IN THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS." 

UNBEATEN TRACKS IN JAPAN. An account of Travels on 
Horseback in the Interior. By Isabella L. Bird. 2 vols. Svo. 
Illustrations and maps. . . . . . $5 00 

" Of Miss Bird's fascinating and instructive volumes it is impossible to speak 
in terms of too high praise. They fully maintain the well-earned reputation of the 
author of ' Six Months in the Sandwich Islands ' and \ A Lady's Life in the Rocky 
Mountains' as a traveller of the first order, and a graphic and picturesque writer. 
The title she has chosen for her new book is no misnomer. Few foreigners, even of 
the stronger sex, would have had the courage and perseverance to face and surmount 
the obstacles which a frail woman in ill health, accompanied only by a single native 
servant, encountered in her cross-country wanderings. But Miss Bird is a born travel- 
ler, fearless, enthusiastic, patient, instructed, knowing as well what as how to describe. 
No peril daunts her, no prospect of fatigue or discomfort disheartens or repels her," — 
Quarterly Rezdew, October, 1880. 

" Miss Bird is one of the most remarkable travellers of our day. Penetrating 
into regions wholly unknown by the outside world, she has accomplished, by the 
force of an indomitable will, aided by great tact and shrewdness, a task to which few 
men would have been found equal; and she has brought away from the scene of her 
researches not only a lively tale of adventure, but a great store of fresh and interest- 
ing information about the character and habits of a people now undergoing one of the 
strangest transformations the world has ever seen. We doubt whether the inner life 
of Japan has ever been better described than in the pregnant pages of this pertinacious 
Englishwoman." — N. Y. Daily Tribune. 

" Bevond question, the most valuable and the most interesting of recent books 
concerning Japanese travel. * * * one of the most profitable ' of recent travel 
records."— N. Y. Eveiting Post. 

" One of the most readable books of travel of the day."— N. Y. Daily Times. 

" Miss Bird has given us what to-day must be regarded as the best work on 
Japan." — N. Y. Herald. 

" But it is in descriptions of men and manners that she excels, and in these she 
is so excellent that in no other book in English is there anything like so vivid a picture 
as she gives of the Japanese people." — N. Y. World. 

" Her graphic power, her literary skill, and surprising freshness of material, 
especially in the second volume, make this book one of the very best, and as a work 
of travels the best, in the library of books relating to Japan." — Rev. Wm. E. Griffis, 
in the iV". Y. Independent. 

u Her narrative is one of intense interest * * * forms a thoroughly valuable 
and desirable addition to any library." — Congregationalist. 

" Miss Bird's book is fascinating throughout." — The A7iierican, Philadelphia. 

" She draws out the story of the homely, everyday life in Japan as it has never 
before been presented." — The Republican, Springfield, Mass. 

u Japan is truly a wonderful country * * * who follows Miss Bird in its 
unbeaten tracks will be not only interested, but delighted and almost enchanted. 

* * * she has told us more about the country, its history, its literature, its business, 
and the habits, thoughts, and customs of the people, than "we might learn from forty 
ordinary books on Japan * * * a remarkably good book * * * it is brimful 
of information, much of which has never come under our eye before." — Boston Post. 

u We do not hesitate to say that oi all the books of Japanese travels which we 
have seen— and we have seen a score or two— this is, without question, the best." 
— Louisville Courier-Journal. 

u Among the works of travellers, relating to this country, we are inclined to 
rank 1 Unbeaten Tracks in Japan ' as perhaps the best. * * * In all respects it is 
a sensible, useful work."- Troy Daily Tiines. 

11 A minute account of the interior of Japan. * * * on nearly every page 
something new or novel is set forth. * * * This record of life in the interior of 
Japan is the freshest and most satisfactory of any which has yet been given to the 
public." — San Francisco Evening Bulletin. 



PUBLICATIONS OF G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS, 



BY THE AUTHOR OF " UNBEATEN TRACKS IN JAPAN." 

A LADY'S LIFE IN THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. By Isa- 
bella Bird, author of " Unbeaten Tracks in Japan," etc. Third 
edition, octavo, illustrated, . . . . . $i 75 

" Of the bold dragoons^who have recently figured in military life, bewitching 
the world with feats of noble horsemanship, the fair Amazon who rides like a Centaur 
over the roughest passes of the Rocky mountains will certainly bear away the palm." 
—New York Tribune. 

" Told with a gracefulness and an enthusiasm that render her work more enter- 
taining and thrilling than any fictitious story of adventure."— New England Farmer. 

" Throughout the whole book there is a beauty and simplicity of style, brimful 
of good cheer, which renders the book as vivacious and chatty as a romance." — Pitts- 
burgh Telegram. 

" We have not met so charming a book of travel in many a day." — New York 
Evening Mail. 

" It is really a delightful and enjoyable book." — New York Express. 

" She has made of her letters, in a word, an uncommonly worthy book of 
travel." — New York Evening Post. 

" The letters that describe all she saw very vividly are collected to make this 
volume, which is altogether the most entertaining and the most full of pleasant de- 
scription that has appeared having the Rocky Mountain region as its subject." — 
Philadelphia Evening Bulletin. 

" A most interesting book of travels." — Boston Daily Evening Traveller. 

41 While it is thrilling and romantic in some places, it is equally entertaining 
and historical in other chapters." — Rochester Eveni?ig Express. 

" Miss Bird is an ideal writer. She can see, and she can use the words that 
place what she sees before the reader. She has regard to the essentials of a scene or 
episode, and describes these with a simplicity that is as effective as it is artless. 
Humor is here, of a quality precisely suited to a traveller ; never obtrusive, but never 
deficient when the need comes, oiling the wheels of action just in time to counteract 
friction. Better still, perhaps, she possesses individuality, inasmuch that although she 
vouchsafes us no self-drawn portrait, nor any approach to one, we sensibly derive an 
idea of her appearance and traits from the impress which these make upon the circum- 
stances of her position. * * * 

" For, spontaneous and unadorned as is her narrative, it is more interesting than 
most of the novels which it has been our lot to encounter, and, in fact, comprises char- 
acter, situations, and dramatic effect enough to make ninty-nine novels out of a hun- 
dred look pallid and flat in comparison. * * * 

" Her whole experience is a singular combination of the natural and the dra- 
matic, as well as a most encouraging record of feminine confidence and masculine 
chivalrousness." — The Spectator. 

" A fascinating book of travel." — Cincinnati Commercial. 

" Her descriptions are graphic, often charming, and always entertaining." — 
New York Herald. 

" This volume has proved an agreeable surprise. Not having any acquain- 
tance with the author's previous works, we took up this with no prepossessions in its 
favor, but found ourselves interested from the start, and read to the end with ever-in- 
creasing pleasure." — Worcester Spy. 



PUBLICATIONS OF G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS. f 



A NEW VOLUME BY "JOHN LATOUCHE." 

PORTUGAL, OLD AND NEW. By Oswald Crawfurd, British 
Consul at Oporto. Octavo, with maps and illustrations, cloth 
extra, $3 5° 

Mr. Crawfurd, who is better known in literature under his nom de plume of 
John Latouche, has resided for many years in Portugal and has had exceptional op- 
oortunities for becoming thoroughly acquainted with the country and its people. 

" The whole book, indeed, is excellent, giving the reader not information 
only, but appreciation of Portugal, its climate, its people and its ways. It is not a 
book of travel, but a book of residences, if we may say so." — New York Evening Post. 

" Mr. Crawfurd's admirable book is most opportune, and his long residence in 
the country, his intimate and critical knowledge of the language, history, poetry, and 
the inner life of the people, render him an authority as safe to follow as he is pleas- 
ant. * * * The book is excellent in every way. — Athenceum. 

" A more agreeable account of Portugal and the Portuguese could scarcely 
have been written, and it will surprise us if the book does not live as one of the best 
descriptions we possess of a foreign nation."— St. James Gazette. 

A FORBIDDEN LAND ; OR, VOYAGES TO THE COREA. 

With full description of the manners, customs, history, etc., of a com- 
munity of some 16,000,000 people hitherto almost entirely unknown. 
By Ernst Oppert. Octavo, with maps and illustrations, $3 00 

" The author combines a story of his personal adventures, with a most intel- 
ligible description of the country, its inhabitants, their customs, and of everything 
which would help his readers to form a correct idea of what he himself saw and 
learned." — The Churchman. 

" Sure to be eagerly and widely read * * * contains almost the only au- 
thentic description of Corea and its people with which the public are familiar." — San 
Francisco Bulletin. 

" Full of data of the highest value on the geography and history of Corea, its 
commercial value and products." — New York Times. 

" Mr. Oppert has made a book of rare interest." — New York Evening Post. 

" His personal narrative is one of great interest * * * he Is rewarded for 
his enterprise in being able to communicate so much novel and valuable information 
in regard to a country which has so long remained beyond the scope of geographical 
research." — New York Tribune. 



ROMAN DAYS. By Viktor Rydberg. Translated by Alfred 
Corning Clark, with Memoir of the author by H. A. W. Lindehn. 
Octavo, cloth. Illustrated . . . . . ■ . $2 00 

The volume embodies the results of careful historical studies, and gives some 
legendary matters not heretofore brought forward. The art criticisms are the work 
of a poet and scholar ; the brief historical and topographical sketches, those of a clear- 
headed philosopher and eager traveller, a quick observer, a man of general and thor- 
ough culture. _ The book is a picturesque mosaic of the many brilliant, sober, gay, 
comic, dramatic, tragic, poetic, vulgar elements that make up the past history of that 
wonderful city and the physiognomy it bears to-day. 

" We welcome this work from the hardy North for its broad scholarship, its 
freshness and ripeness. The articles betray an artistic discrimination rare in one not 
a sculptor by profession and experienced and enthusiastic in that art. Rydberg pos- 
sesses the pure plastic spirit."— ./V. Y. Herald. 



PUBLICATIONS OF G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS. 



A NEW BOOK BY THE AUTHOR OF " CONSTANTINOPLE." 

HOLLAND AND ITS PEOPLE. By Edmundo de Amicis, author 
of " Constantinople," " Studies of Paris," " Morocco," " Spain," etc. 
Octavo. With 18 full-page plates. . . ... . $2 00 

In this volume of which editions are appearing at once ia Florence, Paris, 
London and New York, the brilliant author of " Paris " and " Constantinople " has 
turned his steps to a land abounding in picturesque effects and whose history is full of 
dramatic interest, and his vivid descriptions of the Hollanders and their homes show 
that his pen has lost none of its eloquen ce or delicacy of touch. His analysis of the 
traits and characteristics of this sturdy race, which has played so important a part in/ 
the history of Europe, is most interesting and valuable. 

" In descriptive passages, Signor Amicis is at home. A wealth of imagery 
flows from his pen and lightens the pages into prose poems. He has a quiet humor of 
the Latin type, a disposition to be amused • but he is quick to sympathize with the 
emotions of his Dutch friends, and if he smiles at their stolidity, admires the rugged 
qualities and native genius which have produced a William of Orange, a John DeWitt, 
a Barneveld, and a Rembrandt." — Boston Traveller. 

" Edmundo de Amicis has transformed the land of dykes into a land of beauty* 
of wonder, and of enchantment. He has written, in a word, a book in every sense 
charming." — Chicago Times. 

" It is only simple justice to say that a more delightful volume of travels 
hardly may be found." — Philadelphia Times. 

11 His sparkling, graphic book is a thoroughly charming one, to which we give 
the most unaffected praise." — Louisville Courier-Journal. 

BY THE SAME AUTHOR. 

CONSTANTINOPLE. 8vo, cloth $1 50 

De Amicis is one of the strongest and most brilliant of the present generation 
of Italian writers, and this latest work from his pen, as well from the picturesqueness 
of its descriptions as for its skilful analysis of the traits and characteristics of th« med- 
ley of races represented in the Turkish capital, possesses an exceptional interest and 
value. 

" The most picturesque and entertaining volume contained in the recent litera- 
ture on the Eastern question." — Boston Journal. 

" A remarkable work * * * the author is a poet, an artist, a wonder- 
worker in words * * * his descriptions are given with rare skill." — N.Y. Evening 
Post. 

STUDIES OF PARIS. By Edmundo de Amicis, author of '•Con- 
stantinople," " Morocco," "Holland," etc. i2mo, cloth extra, %\ 25 

A series of wonderfully vivid and dramatic pictures of the great world's me- 
tropolis, by a writer whose previous books have gained a reputation for exceptional 
clearness of perception and facility in description. There is hardly a writer who can 
rival him in his power of reproducing for his readers the very atmosphere of the place 
he describes. These " Studies" include original and characteristic papers on the two 
authors whom he considers especially representative of the Paris of to-day — Hugo and 
Zola. 

"Poet in prose, painter in phrases, subtle musician in the harmonies of lan- 
guage, de Amicis has comprehended the manifold amazement, the potent charm of 
Paris as no writer before him has done." — Portland Press. 

14 A marvel of intense, rapid, graphic and poetic description, by one of the most 
brilliant of modern Italian writers. The chapters on Hugo and Zola show the same 
power of description and analysis in dealing with mind and character." — Christian 
Register. 



